Art Deco Treasure Shines with New Meyer Sound System

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"Due to the difficult acoustical conditions, we needed speakers with tightly controlled coverage angles. Based on our earlier positive experience with Meyer in the musical theater at Füssen, we again chose a Meyer Sound system." - Walter Kottke Huneke+Partner

The citizens of Landau take justifiable pride in their recent restoration of the Festhalle, an elegant structure (completed 1907) heralded as the finest example of art deco architecture in southern Germany. The Festhalle's painstakingly refurbished interior, rich with the detailed textures of the era, is perfectly complemented by new audio systems featuring self-powered loudspeakers from Meyer Sound.

To preserve this architectural jewel, the Landau community formed a membership association ("Festhalleförderverein") to take charge of the top-to-bottom restoration project and also to manage the Festhalle's subsequent operation as both a performance venue and meeting space. As part of the renovations, the association contracted the Bayreuth consulting firm of Huneke + Partner, represented by Walter Kottke with project supervision by Susanne Lehmann. Their first task was to design minimally intrusive acoustical treatments and specify new audio reinforcement systems for the venue's two halls, the larger seating about 1000 and the smaller approximately 150.

The choice of loudspeakers was dictated by a combination of highly reverberant acoustics and the understandable desire to preserve visual aesthetic appeal with minimal distraction from modern elements. The loudspeakers had to be powerful yet compact, and also offer precisely defined coverage patterns.

"Due to the difficult acoustical conditions, we needed speakers with tightly controlled coverage angles," notes Kottke. "Based on our earlier positive experience with Meyer in the musical theater at Füssen, we again chose a Meyer Sound system."

In the larger hall, the system is configured with a tight pack of three UPA-2P Compact Narrow Coverage loudspeakers as a center cluster, with one CQ-1 Wide Coverage Main loudspeaker at both the left and right of the stage. Four UPM-1P Ultra-Compact Wide Coverage loudspeakers provide front fill from the stage lip, and deep bass from a pair of USW-1P Compact Subwoofers fills the room. In the smaller room, uniform coverage is supplied by four discreetly placed UPM-1Ps.

All audio, video and intercom systems in the Festhalle were supplied and installed by Salzbrenner Stagetec Audio Video Mediensystems GmbH of Buttenheim, with on-site project supervision by Boris Balin.

On completion of the ambitious project, the renewed Festhalle opened to a full slate of activities, including meetings of community groups and a range of concerts covering the musical spectrum from rock to jazz and classical. According to system co-designer Walter Kottke, "the technical director at the Festhalle is very satisfied with the new system."

July, 2002

UPA-2P

CQ-1

UPM-1P

USW-1P