After a turbulent renovation phase, the renowned Stuttgarter Schauspielhaus opened again after several phases of rebuilding, and includes a new sound system by Alcons Audio. After the last renovation phase, the main room of the Theatre of the Year award-winning Stuttgarter theater now has a maximum of 670 seats.
The Stuttgart State Theater are the largest three-section theater (“Drei-Sparten-Theater“) in Europe, comprising the Stuttgart Opera, the Stuttgart Ballet and Stuttgart Theater. Since 2001, “Schauspielhaus”, formerly known as Kleine Haus (“Little House”), was rebuilt from 1959 to 1962 after its destruction in World War II and renovated in recent years in two phases. The Schauspiel Stuttgart is considered one of the most innovative theaters in the German-speaking countries.
Frank Bürger, head of the audio and video department of the Schauspielhaus, explains the decision to install an Alcons system: “From a natural, balanced sound for unobtrusive theater reinforcement to a powerful sound for modern productions and concerts a versatile system was required. In comparison tests, the Alcons components excelled by far.”
Technical service provider Thomann Audio Professional installed the system during the first restructuring phase of the Schauspielhaus. Carsten Land, project engineer Professional Audio at Thomann, explains the requirements of the theater that were to be met by the new sound system: “Compactness was clearly one of the main requirements, and the LR7 is one of the most compact line arrays on the market.”
“The compact size of the system, of course, is really an advantage for us,” Bürger adds. “As permanent installation, it integrates excellently in the spatial conditions of the Schauspielhaus. The steeply rising auditorium is optimally covered by the Alcons line array, whereby the aural impression of the sound is homogeneous in almost every seat. The natural clarity and open, yet punchy sound offers a lot of pleasure when using the system.”
“The LR7 is by its sound characteristics particularly well suited for a theatrical environment, even when more modern productions from the genres of musical or pop are staged,” says Land.
The Schauspielhaus’ main system comprises left/right each 8x LR7 micro line array (4-inch pro-ribbon, 1x 6.5-inch woofer) and 2x LR7B micro line array bass. The center cluster comprises 4x LR7-120 micro line arrays. Down fills are 2x VR12 monitor (6-inch Pro-Ribbon, 1x 12-inch woofer) and as LFE 2x BF362i (2x 18-inch) subwoofer are used. The system is driven by ALC2 and ALC4 (2x 1KW, 2x 2KW) Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers with DDP (Digital Drive Processor).
For more information, visit www.alconsaudio.com and www.staatstheater-stuttgart.de.
