The challenging acoustic of the 4,500-capacity Polsat Plus Arena was the setting for Katie Melua’s set at Poland’s Energa Ladies Jazz Festival, an appearance with her technical rider specifying L-Acoustics sound reinforcement. The response from rental company Krupski Sound and L-Acoustics Certified Partner Audio Plus, was a system of L2 arrays proved a defining moment for regional sound production.
Europe’s only recurring festival dedicated to female jazz has brought together more than 110,000 attendees and 600-plus performers over its 20-year run, this year also including Dionne Warwick and Randy Crawford among those paying across four venues.
Krupski Sound’s path to L-Acoustics’ flagship technology is a carefully planned development of its partnership with Audio Plus, which began in 2023 when Krupski was persuaded by experienced systems engineer Krzysztof Polesiński to acquire L-Acoustics’ A-Series line array systems. Krupski expanded into Kara II systems for larger productions before reaching the current L-Series.
‘Starting with A Series gave us the foundation to build our reputation for quality sound,’ says Krupski Sound owner, Adam Krupski. ‘This progression has been transformational for our business – we can now compete for the most demanding international touring productions while maintaining the personal service that’s always defined our approach.’
When Melua’s rider arrived with its emphasis on even coverage throughout the venue, Krupski’s newly acquired L2 arrays positioned the company to meet most exacting technical requirements – the arena presented multiple acoustic and logistical challenges including a glass panel separating the rear balcony from main seating, absence of rear wall diffusers and a specially created suspended truss structure intended to accommodate the festival’s extensive lighting design, as well as a television production crew on-site broadcast the performances.
Audio Plus deployed placed Jerzy Kubiak to work alongside Krupski’s team, ensuring optimal system configuration and performance. ‘When you’re deploying a new system in challenging conditions, hands-on support makes all the difference to achieving the best results,’ explains Audio Plus Marketing Director, Pawel Kuhn.
The final configuration featured LR hangs of one L2 and one L2D per side, supported by seven Kara II units per side as out fill arrays, and seven A10 units (five Focus, two Wide) for front fill. Twelve KS28 subwoofers were ground-stacked in cardioid pairs to control low-frequency directivity, with the entire system operating via Milan-AVB protocol through a P1 processor and AES/EBU redundancy.
Last-minute lighting design changes by the TV production team required repositioning parts of the system - modifications handled easily by the quick-to-rig L Series technology. The L2 deployment went on to exceed performance expectations with consistent quality from front to back of the venue while maintaining the directional control essential for arena environments.
‘The consistent tonal quality of the sound coverage from the front to the back of the venue was remarkable,’ confirms Marcin Iszora, Technical Director of the Ladies Jazz Festival. ‘It’s exactly what we needed for our production.’
‘Initially, I was concerned about coverage adequacy with just two L2 modules per side,’ Krupski says. ‘However, the system’s exceptional coverage uniformity and maintained sound quality throughout the venue, even at extended distances, exceeded our expectations. The L-Acoustics brand recognition also provides immediate credibility with touring productions - when artists and their technical teams see L-Acoustics on our inventory, there’s an instant confidence that transforms the entire production dialogue.’
Taking to social media, Katie Melua subsequently wrote: ‘Thank you for the most epic evening. I loved every second of that gig,’ highlighting her crew as ‘genius technicians’ while noting feedback from venue regulars: ‘On this trip I was told ‘that’s the best sound I’ve heard in this venue and I’ve been coming to shows here for years.’