In the mountains of east-central Spain, ancient temple of San Miguel in the city of Cuenca has become the backdrop for Luz Cuenca, an immersive sensory experience representing the cultural wealth of the city. Drawing on the Cuenca’s history – which is closely linked to art, and especially abstract art – Luz Cuenca is a multimedia exhibition that combines lighting techniques and a orchestral music score with 2D and 3D projection mapping.
Digital immersive experience specialists Ibercover Studio handled production and content design for the installation, with leading A/V specialist Fluge Audiovisual responsible for he design and supply of a high-quality sound system for the project.
‘Ibercover Studio asked us to design an immersive, robust and high-quality audio system as a key element of the overall immersive experience combining sound, light and projection mapping,’ confirms Fluge A/V Project Engineer, Jesús Catá.
‘The main objective was to effectively and uniformly reproduce sound in space at low volumes. The required SPL levels were not particularly high since the acoustics of the church play an important role in the sound environment, giving more importance to quality rather than pressure.
‘We selected KV2 Audio systems because they are outstanding when it comes to delivering high-quality, detailed, transparent sound at low SPLs – and that’s not easy to do.’
Designed by sound engineer Poti Martín, the system comprises 12 EX26 two-way active loudspeaker systems evenly placed along the walls of the nave. With its 100°x100° horn, the EX26 combines wide and even coverage with high vocal intelligibility and musical reproduction. A further two EX26s serve the upper gallery level. Low-end reinforcement is provided by eight KV2 EX1.5 subwoofers set in pairs either side of the altar, plus a further pair placed further along the nave.
Due to the immersive character of the room, each loudspeaker receives independent audio via Dante, track-by-track, from a Watchout 6 video playback system, and processed and distributed to the loudspeakers via NST Audio DSP matrices. In order to minimise any interference with the video mapping, all of the loudspeakers have custom white housings.
‘The synergy between the EX26 and the compact EX1.5 subwoofer for the reproduction of the entire sound spectrum in a completely flat manner, with no drop-off at any frequency, is unique,’ Catá says. ‘You can hear absolutely every detail of the music exactly as it’s meant to sound, even at low SPLs. However, this doesn’t mean that it won’t reproduce higher SPLs with the same degree of success – indeed, in addition to Luz Cuenca, the system will be used for many other events with more demanding level requirements, and we know it will sound just as good.’
