Since the laying of the foundation stone in 1953, Stadthalle Schmallenberg has been able to accommodate concerts, readings, shooting festivals (popular in this party of Germany) with up to 1,500 participants per event. An extensive refurbishment of the venue was completed in early 2019, including the renewal of its sound and lighting.
Noel Büchte and Event Active’s Sascha Deussen created the concept and implemented the PA system with loudspeakers from Martin Audio. The complete planning and implementation were handled by Schmallenberg-based Event Active.
‘We have already owned an MLA Mini System for several years, which has often been used in the Stadthalle,’ Büchte says. ‘The result was always convincing – both for the customer and for us – no matter if it was for theatre productions, a big party or with trendy DJs.’
The choice of permanent installation fell to Martin Audio’s the new Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM). The Wavefront Precision series includes three models, from the Mini to the Compact to the Longbow, addressing a wide variety of applications. ‘The advantage of the Wavefront Precision Minis over the MLA Mini for installations is in the structure of the system. With the MLA Mini the power amp is installed in the bass, but here we have the appropriate power amp available as a separate 19-inch device,’ Deussen explains.
‘Furthermore, the native bass of the MLA Mini is a 15-inch subwoofer. But we needed more low-end for the size of the hall, so we opted for two double-18-inch subwoofers. Thanks to the software interface, the system parameters could easily be loaded into the power amplifier so that the subs can be perfectly integrated.’
The dispersion characteristics and level can be simulated very precisely on a computer using Martin Audio Display software, so that the resulting preset file only has to be loaded into the final stage via the control and VU-Net remote software. In the Wavefront series, the system can be driven to maximum resolution when each box has its own amp channel. Event Active decided on this optimum system setup for the one-box solution.
‘Budget-orientated applications may adopt the four-box solution, so that four speakers are powered by a single amp channel. The advantage of the one-box solution is a maximum coherent coverage of the audience area and a very precise demarcation to the non-sonic areas,’ Büchte explains of the Wavefront Precision technology.
The installation uses the Dante protocol, which can directly process the system amplifiers from Martin Audio without additional plug-in cards. In the 40m-long hall, eight Wavefront Precision Minis are used per side, supported by two SX218 subwoofers. As a front fill, DD6 can be used where necessary and if monitors are needed, two XE300 wedges are available. In the foyer, six Martin Audio CDD5 speakers provide the perfect sound, running on a 100V line. One or more channels can be designed as 100V outlets via the software interface and do not require a separate 100V power amplifier.
Following the refurbishment, Stadhalle Schmallenberg reopened with a concert by Tom Astor.
More: https://martin-audio.com
