Having held its first UK event earlier in 2025, immersive audio company Polygon Live called on Britannia Row Productions in London before seeking the same level of service in North America with Britannia Row Productions/Clair Global sister company LD Systems in the build-up to Bonnaroo Music & Art Festival.
Polygon Live has been working with L-Acoustics and a team of spatial audio engineers since 2017, following the three-day Polygon Live LDN event was staged at the Italian Terraces at London’s Crystal Palace Park, with Britannia Row Productions becoming the organisation’s preferred audio rental partner.
‘I’ve always been really interested in what high quality audio is, and how it can be experienced,’ says Polygon CEO, Nico Elliott. ‘One of the things that triggered my intrigue was listening to quadrophonic sound systems back in the day. You’d see four stacks of speakers and I always thought that it was interesting, but why are there only four – why aren’t there more speakers? When we came across [L-Acoustics’] L-ISA in 2016, we realised it could allow us to do what we wanted to achieve for our event.
‘When we were looking for an audio partner to do our first event in London, we came across Britannia Row,’ he continues. ‘I had a wonderful experience dealing with Account Executive Dave Compton – we received rapid quotations, even though we had many changes along the way.’
‘The technical staff at Britannia Row went to great efforts to understand what we were trying to do and why we were asking for certain pieces of gear,’ says Polygon Systems Designer, David Lopez de Arenosa. ‘Rather than just looking at a list and ticking off as many items as possible, they spent time going through the details to understand the intention behind it. They were able to fulfil our needs, even suggesting other pieces that could streamline the process. Their technical knowledge and attention to detail truly made the difference.’
At Crystal Palace, Polygon used a 12.1.4 immersive audio system that gave the audience 360° envelopment. L-Acoustics L2D loudspeakers were used for the front, with A15s for surrounds, A10s overhead, and KS28 subwoofers for low-end reinforcement. All loudspeakers were within a 25m radius so that every audience member received a high quality, intimate, immersive listening experience.
‘One of the elements that makes Polygon unique is that we truly prioritise the sound experience with a no-compromise approach,’ Lopez claims. ‘The speakers aren’t 150ft away behind a video wall or flown high up out of the way of projector screens; they are exactly where they need to be.
‘Technically, there was a lot of complex routing and signal processing behind the scenes to pull off seven fully spatialised live performances each day, with minimal downtime between acts. Two FOH consoles were working in an A/B configuration so that while one band is performing, the next band is line checking backstage. Each act also had its own L-ISA processor with over 40 drive channels to the PA system. That had to be crossfaded between acts through a DirectOut Prodigy matrix processor. On top of that, we had customised multichannel spatial audio music playlists between the acts.
‘Having a perfectly dialled-in control package is crucial to pulling off such a complex production. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without each specialty item working perfectly throughout the weekend.’
With an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience and industry peers from Polygon Live LDN, Polygon’s next outing was set for Bonnaroo in Tennessee, which would have seen many artists play in stereo outputs rather than multitracks or with live instruments, and the Polygon team spatialising single tracks. However, severe weather warnings in place caused the festival to be cancelled after just one day of programming.
With the festival pre-production process staying within Clair Global, courtesy of Houston-based LD Systems, the build-up was seamless. ‘Once you’ve done this with an audio vendor and it’s gone this well, you know that doing it again is going to be a peaceful experience,’ Elliott says. ‘What we do is a little bit different, but when you bring lots of extraordinarily talented and passionate people together, the effort is above and beyond.’
‘When the Infinity stage design at Bonnaroo first came on our radar in late 2024, it was to be our first chance to work on an L-ISA project,’ says LD Systems Audio Operations Manager, Thomas Ruffner. ‘However, we understood that it would be a complex undertaking that would require additional rental resources beyond our, then, inventory. Fast-forward to 2025 and, after the announcement that LD Systems was joining Clair Global, we began collaborating with worldwide operations who were instrumental in assisting us with those equipment needs. It’s very inspiring to experience that level of support.’
‘The support of Clair Global on an international scale ensured equipment needs were met through LD Systems,’ adds LD Systems Audio Crew Chief/Systems Engineer, Bryan Woodall. ‘The immersive sound experience requires a sophisticated hemispherical system design that is vastly different than a traditional stereo deployment. By working directly with Polygon at our LD Systems headquarters, we were able to mock up the system’s control package and amplifier network in preparation for a smooth system deployment.’
‘We're very thankful that Britannia Row and LD Systems work in such close communication and can share their expertise to provide the same level of high-quality gear and support on the other side of the pond,’ Lopez de Arenosa adds. ‘ Both companies have deep levels of experience in executing complicated productions, so we give huge thanks to their audio crews who joined us to make our vision such a success.’