An extensive public address system from Electro-Voice and Dynacord has been installed at Cavatina Hall. Located in the vibrant, historic city of Bielsko-Biała, amongst the Beskidy mountains in southern Poland, the six-story building counts over 9,000 square meters of top-tier office space, a cutting-edge recording studio, a chamber music room, and a majestic 1,000-capacity concert hall. The venue itself is owned by leading Polish development company Cavatina and is the first privately owned and funded concert hall in Poland.
As a large, multiuse facility Cavatina Hall required an extensive solution to cover public address across its various areas. This needed to be flexible enough to meet the differing needs of office workers and theatregoers and led to Audio Plus, the company responsible for the coordination and co-designers of the solution, turning to the Electro-Voice and Dynacord portfolio.
The heart of this solution is electronics from Dynacord, with an MXE5 Matrix Mix Engine alongside an IPX10:8 power amplifier. IPX multichannel amplifiers are dedicated for fixed installations and offer sophisticated speaker processing. IPX also features Dynacord’s unique variable load drive (VLD) technology. For each channel, the user can determine whether Low-Z or High-Z 70V/100V loudspeakers are driven without the need for an output transformer via direct drive technology. The IPX10:8 was the perfect choice for this project due to its ability to harness this technology across eight channels.
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“The IPX 10:8 is at the core of the sound system—we wanted something that was technically optimal in terms of control and this amp allows each channel to be individually operated, along with analog inputs from Dante and OCA via OMNEO network inputs—it’s a highly flexible solution for us,” explained Stanisław Mielczarek, tech support engineer, Audio Plus. “MXE5 was chosen as it’s a universal processor that complements other systems in Cavatina Hall—through SONICUE Sound System Software. It integrates perfectly for this kind of project—allowing us to have full control of the entire system of signal routing and signal processing for public address speakers.” added Tomasz Ibrom, project and installation engineer, Audio Plus, who was responsible for the system integration at Cavatina Hall.
The Dynacord electronics are driving a large 100V Electro-Voice loudspeaker solution combining the strengths of the EVID ceiling and surface mount ranges. “EVID speakers offer a big spectrum of models in the series and were the ideal choice because of their mounting capabilities,” Ibrom explained. “Each piece is exactly fitted for its location.”
In the main auditorium, a pair of Electro-Voice FM6.2 speakers have been hidden behind the wooden sound panels either side of the stage. These are linked to the RTS intercom system and used for addressing the performers onstage. The stage manager or event director can use the system via an Electro-Voice wireless mic to communicate with the musicians during rehearsals. “This additional system works perfectly because the speech is super-intelligible and the speakers are completely invisible,” said Ibrom. “The team at Cavatina Hall are really happy with it.”
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Staying on stage, Electro-Voice microphones have also been selected to cover a wide range of vocal and instrumental needs. This includes everything from the RE97Tx micro-headworn condensers, to ND44, ND46 and ND66 instrument mics, as well as the iconic RE20 and RE320 Variable-D models.
The Hall now boasts superior efficiency in terms of connectivity, which fits in well to the innovative aesthetic of the multi-functional building. “We are at the forefront of Europe among the few venues that have such a system," concluded Marcin Smolik, producer and managing director at Cavatina Hall. "Our technology is a treat for artists and for the viewer, it means quality.”
