Its 2,500 seat capacity qualifies the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden as Germany’s largest opera and concert house – an accolade that is accompanied by the acoustic challenges offered by such a large enclosed space. In response, the venue recently installed an Alcons QR24 pro-ribbon column loudspeaker system to overcome these challenges.
The project to replace an aging sound reinforcement system had been underway at the Festspielhaus since 2017, with German theatre consultancy Walter Kottke Ingenieure commissioned for the job. ‘The system was not only outdated, but also yielded rather sub-optimal results,’ reports the specialist in charge, Joachim Lindemann.
‘Due to its size and wall surfaces, the hall creates a reverberation of more than two seconds – which is great for concert performances, but problematic for sound reinforcement of any kind. The more sound energy you release into the room, the more response you receive in return. Unless the throw is super directional, one will eventually lose control of the sound at some point.’
Lindemann suggested an Alcons QR24 modular line-source array column system for a listening test. While listening to it, Stefan Ibach, team leader audio and video technology at the Festspielhaus, ‘almost fell off his chair’, Lindemann recalls.
‘In fact, I’ve never heard anything quite like this in this room,’ Ibach concedes.
During the summer break, Salzbrenner Media installed two QR24 LR systems, supplemented by a centre cluster of four LR14 pro-ribbon line array systems. Three additional QR24 LR systems each were added for the sound reinforcement of the two tiers, with six double 5-inch SR9 complementing the system for close-field support. An array of four BF362 MkII double 18-inch subwoofers provides additional bass.
‘To acoustically compensate for the widely spaced proscenium towers, we opted for a centre cluster to cover the floor in front of the stage,’ Ibach says. ‘The subwoofers are also installed up there. On the stage edge we can add mobile SR9 near field loudspeakers.’
All QR24 units were hidden behind a perforated metal panel in the proscenium.
‘Thanks to their very favourable form factor, the QR24s could be installed in the proscenium without difficulty,’ Lindemann adds. ‘Installing line arrays instead was therefore never an option – for optical and acoustic reasons, because arrays were often unable to separate the individual zones in the hall and repeatedly emitted too much acoustic energy into the hall. And that’s exactly what we were trying to avoid.
‘Alcons speakers offer the most directional radiation in the HF section you will find on the market. That’s why the QR24s are able to deliver very precise audio on the floor and the two tiers, while causing as little reflection as possible from walls and balcony parapets. This, in return, means that we can easily apply volumes well above 100dB and still achieve crystal-clear sound.’
‘The sound of the Alcons speakers is very transparent and high definition,’ Ibach agrees. ‘They are suitable for both speech and music sound reinforcement of all kinds. Acoustically, it’s a quantum leap for us at the Festspielhaus compared to the old system. Additionally, handling the system with the ALControl software is intuitive – one gets the desired results very quickly.’
More: www.alconsaudio.com
