The Amsterdam facility of Universal Pictures International (UPI) has installed an Alcons Audio CRMS MkII cinema reference monitor system.
Opened in 2005, the facility was built to give screenings to the press and industry professionals, rather than UPI having to buy out regular cinema showings for them. When it came to upgrading the room for Dolby Atmos in late 2017, UPI contacted digital cinema specialists CinemaNext, whose Edwin de Winter specified the Alcons CRMS solution. de Winter designed the complete system for the room, which was installed by the CinemaNext team.
‘The key decision was to consider the dimensions of the screening room in combination with the needs of Dolby Atmos,’ says the screening room’s operator Adriaan Bijl. ‘Edwin and his team specified the Alcons system because they knew it would deliver the best performance of any system.’
The system comprises three Alcons CRMS MkII, three-way systems with two CB362 dual 18-inch high-output, full-size subwoofers, two CB151sl single 15-inch compact shallow subwoofers, flown in the back of the room, plus 28 CCS8 medium-format surround units. The system is powered and controlled by Alcons Sentinel3 amplified loudspeaker controllers.
The CRMS MkII features the patented RBN401 pro-ribbon driver and combines clarity and intelligibility with high headroom SPL. Each CRMS MkII system features a separate mid/high-frequency section, featuring a RBN401 4-inch pro-ribbon driver HF with non-vented 8-inch MF and a vented 15-inch low frequency section, with low power-compression 4-inch voice coil design. The system is designed for high-end mix or screening rooms, postproduction facilities, dubbing stages and high quality home cinemas with a room depth of less than 20m (60ft).
Bijl reports the cinema as very happy with the system, which has received positive comments from those attending screenings. ‘Dolby Atmos is of course a real improvement,’ he says. ‘However, traditional 5.1 and later 7.1 mixes also sound much better with the Alcons system. We still do 35mm film presentations as well and the Alcons system makes them sound terrific. Edwin says that we have the best audio system ever built for an analogue film set-up.’
More: www.alcons.audio
