In successive restoration and construction projects taking place over half a century, Lai Street, resulting in the unification of 16 district buildings on Tallinn’s Lai Street – each dating back to the 13th century – have given the Estonian Youth Theatre a unifiedholistic theatre complex.
Now known as the Tallinn City Theatre, the production house is noted for its high production values and creative storytelling. To bring the sound system into line with the rest of the facilities, a recent upgrade has provided all public spaces with ambient soundscapes and even coverage, without disrupting the theatre’s bold visual appeal. For this, the venue selected a Genelec Smart IP system for its combination of sound quality at low levels and aesthetic design.
Tallinn’s Old Town – Vanalinn – is a UNESCO World Heritage site, recognised for its well-preserved medieval landscape and cultural relevance, making the Lai Street restoration project one of the most historically significant theatre upgrades in Europe. ‘While this is excellent for the theatre, it placed certain limitations on the audio system,’ says Tallinn City Theatre Senior Sound Technician, Karl Erik Laas. ‘We needed a high-fidelity, full-bodied loudspeaker solution that evenly covers the public spaces and would allow us to digitally adjust the matrix. Due to the historic nature of the venue, we also had the challenge of coordinating the appearance of the loudspeakers with the interior architecture.’
Gentle background music, as well as voice announcements, needed to fill public spaces and some smaller theatre auditoria. ‘It has already been decided that the sound system for the halls would run on a Dante network, so it made sense for the common areas to follow the same protocol,’ Laas explains. ‘The result was a high-quality solution consisting of more than 100 Genelec loudspeakers.’
The venue’s technical team already had a pair of Genelecs installed in their studio, and were familiar with their sound and vocal intelligibility. Regional distributor, msonic Baltic OÜ, supplied a total of 120 Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers to be deployed throughout the complex. ‘Genelec’s Smart IP series is known for its exceptional audio quality, attractive form factor, and installation flexibility,’ Laas continues. ‘We knew Smart IP would be the right fit to meet all of the requirements.’
The system was designed in collaboration with theatre, maintenance and design specialist Optimus Systems, and the Genelec factory to guarantee the most suitable solution for the multi-venue complex. ‘A combination of 44 4430 and 76 4420 Smart IP loudspeakers was installed by Optimus Systems throughout the audience areas, making up 24 zones of audio,’ Laas reveals. ‘The new system was expertly planned, with the positioning of the loudspeakers ensuring wide directivity and even coverage, with absolutely no dead spots.’
Mounted on walls or flown from the ceiling, the standard RAL black loudspeakers stand out from the wood-panelled, brickwork, and white painted walls, while the elegant oval form factor and discreet cable installation of the Smart IP series ensures they blend harmoniously with the historic setting.
‘Using Genelec’s Smart IP Manager software, we were able to route, tune and manage the loudspeakers with ease, eliminating many common set-up difficulties,’ adds Laas. ‘For networking and power in the common areas, we used Netgear M-4250 switches, while the entire system was run over Dante. Currently, a temporary system is in place to take care of processing and control as we wait for a permanent system to be chosen and implemented.
‘We’ve received high praise from audiences and production crew since installing the Genelec system,’ he adds. ‘The Smart IP loudspeakers deliver superior quality, intelligibility, and optimal coverage – everything that we were looking for from a new audio solution.’
‘Bringing a futureproof audio environment to a historically protected venue like Tallinn City Theatre is really about understanding the building, respecting its history and finding solutions that integrate naturally without drawing too much attention,’ says Jürgen Urbanik, Marketing and Business Development Manager at msonic Baltic. ‘The Genelec Smart IP solution makes a lot of sense in spaces where architecture and cultural identity need to coexist and enhance the visitor experience by combining sonic precision, networked flexibility and a discrete visual presence. Projects like Tallinn City Theatre show how thoughtfully implemented audio can quietly enhance historic spaces, helping them function in a modern, connected production environment while preserving everything that makes them special.’
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