The Netherlands Open Air Museum offers an insight into he history of the country and its people. Canon of the Netherlands – the museum’s latest and most ambitious attraction – is entirely enclosed and partially submerged inside an egg-shaped dome, taking visitors from the Stone Age to the present through a series of multi-media vignettes.

Local A/V design and integration firm Rapenburg Plaza worked with the Open Air Museum to make the exhibit successful, relying on KEF and Yamaha loudspeakers, and 44 channels of Ashly Audio networked and DSP-enabled amplification.

Canon of the Netherlands is divided into sections, each section using several displays to transport visitors through space and time using audiovisual technologies. An entry zone includes ten uniquely shaped screens, each with its own KEF Ventura 6 loudspeaker powered by its own channel of an Ashly nXp 1504 four-channel 150W multi-mode network amplifier with onboard DSP. In addition, four 100V Yamaha VXS10ST subwoofers add low-end support where needed and get their power and processing from an Ashly Pema 4250.10 four-channel 250W network amplifier with a built-in Protea matrix DSP.

The second section again includes ten presentations, each supported by varying numbers of 6Ω KEF Ventura 4 loudspeakers. In all, the second section uses 19 channels via five four-channel Ashly nXp 1504 amplifiers.

‘Many of the displays required wiring two loudspeakers in parallel,’ explains Rapenburg Plaza sound control and sound engineer, Wilfred de Zoete. ‘The Ashly nXp Series can handle the 3Ω load and very long cable runs that were unavoidable.’

A video wall concludes the experience, using two further nXp 1504 amplifiers to deliver eight discrete channels of amplification to drive as many KEF Ventura 6 loudspeakers. Soundscapes fill the space and elevate the experience.

‘The Ashly nXp 1504s are all used in different zones but with the same KEF Ventura 4 and Ventura 6 loudspeakers,’ de Zoete says. ‘They give us the flexibility of a low impedance set-up and 150W/channel – ample power for this application. In installations such as this, there is no need for super high-power amplifiers. In addition to the high-power amplifiers common to other manufacturers, Ashly offers fully-featured low-power versions. Thus, the client is not paying for extra output that will never be used. The fact that the nXp 1504 is 1U-high gives the large system a small footprint.

‘The Ashly Network Protocol is easy to use, feature-rich, and integrates perfectly with our show control gear,’ he adds. ‘The most important network functionality is power on/standby, muting, and preset recalls. Although we often use Ashly DSP for intricate set-ups, we’re using the onboard DSP on the ten nXp 1504s and one Pema 4250.10 in a straightforward manner – mostly equalising for optimum speaker sound and power consumption. Importantly, Ashly’s pricing is competitive and overall quality is solid, which allowed us to design such a comprehensive system while remaining within budget.’