Meyer Sound Transforms Seville’s Cartuja Center CITE with Technology Trifecta

Located in the cosmopolitan port city of Seville, Cartuja Center CITE has emerged as one of Spain’s premier destinations for meetings, events, and the performing arts. The expansive complex houses multiple venues of all sizes, but the leading attraction for major concerts and theatrical events is the Main Hall, now fully equipped with more than 300 Meyer Sound loudspeakers. The main front system is based around five LEOPARD line arrays while scores of smaller loudspeakers are distributed laterally and overhead throughout the auditorium to accommodate the Constellation acoustic system and Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool. According to Alvaro Elena of RMS Proaudio, Meyer Sound’s Spanish distributor, it is the most extensive and sophisticated Meyer Sound system on the Iberian Peninsula.

With flexible seating accommodating more than 3,500 people in its largest configuration, the Main Hall can be optimized both physically and acoustically for an extraordinarily wide range of events. “They are hosting all kinds of shows and meetings here,” says Elena, “from classical music to pop and rock, cinema showings and corporate events. You could have a classical concert in the afternoon and a rock concert that evening with no acoustic shell to construct and disassemble.”

When Cartuja Center CITE was still in the early planning stages, RMS Proaudio was consulted on what was then to be a standard reinforcement system, with acoustical variations accomplished by moving physical panels. At that time, the Constellation solution was introduced, demonstrating a drastic reduction in costs along with greater acoustical flexibility and lower long-term labor costs through elimination of a heavy and cumbersome stage shell.

The main reinforcement system, expanded to five arrays for Spacemap Go’s panoramic placement effects, comprises a total of 48 LEOPARD line array loudspeakers with deep bass from dual, five-each cardioid arrays of 900‑LFC low-frequency control elements flown behind the far left and right LEOPARD arrays. Two ULTRA‑X40 and six UPM‑1P loudspeakers are deployed as fills, with drive, optimization, and Spacemap Go dynamic effects provided by seven GALAXY Network Platforms.

For the side, rear, and overhead spatial sound effects, and to create the Constellation acoustical environment desired for the event, more than 240 additional loudspeakers have been installed around and over the audience, including Stella-4C, Stella-8C, MM‑4XP, UPM-1P, UPJunior full-range loudspeakers, HMS‑10 surround loudspeakers, and M1D-Sub subwoofers. A total of 66 miniature microphones are installed for sensing the ambient acoustics, with 34 in the auditorium, 16 onstage, and 16 in the orchestra pit.

As with all Constellation systems, the one at Cartuja Center CITE had the inherent capability to create discrete spatial sound movements using the original Spacemap feature in the CueStation software. However, in 2021 the system was further upgraded to the more user-friendly, iPad-based Spacemap Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool.

The quality and flexibility of the Meyer Sound systems has realized both artistic and financial returns, according to Luis González, director of Cartuja Center CITE. “The excellence of our equipment as well as our service is central to our strategic marketing,” he says. “Audio is one of the most important elements since we see it as an important differentiating factor. In that respect, Constellation already has proven its value with classical music concerts and even with operas. We have had the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville and the Baroque Orchestra of Seville present concerts here. Despite some understandable initial skepticism, they expressed their full satisfaction. As Constellation becomes better known throughout Spain, we expect the clear advantages will help attract other types of shows, such as musicals, as well as corporate events.”

Spacemap Go capability is a recent addition, but González sees it as also holding great promise. “We are the principal host venue for the Alhambra Monkey Week Festival, which allowed us a unique opportunity to showcase both Constellation and Spacemap Go to key people in the Spanish independent music industry. They showed great interest in the operation of these technologies, adding to the number of shows offering to use this space. That will undoubtedly translate into increased income in the future.”

Cartuja Center CITE was built by the SGAE foundation and is managed by the EULEN Culture division of the EULEN Group, based in Spain but with operations in 14 countries. True to its founding mission — SGAE is the Spanish acronym for General Society of Authors and Publishers — the Center also hosts a Vocational Center that offers specialized training in technology fields related to entertainment and the performing arts.