The Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam’s architecturally resplendent and acoustically magnificent concert venue, is expanding its Meyer Sound inventory by adding two Meyer Sound CAL 96 column array loudspeakers in the Main Hall (Dutch: Grote Zaal).
“Here at The Concertgebouw we have been planning for some time to install a state-of-the-art permanent system for speech reinforcement,” states Wouter van Poppel, head of technical services at the venue. “After listening to CAL demonstrations here on site and at the Musikverein in Vienna, we were extremely impressed with the system’s clarity, speech intelligibility, and configuration flexibility.”
The new Meyer Sound components are being supplied by Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM), and lead consultant on the project is Theateradvies, both based in Amsterdam.
Meyer Sound CAL column array loudspeakers employ beam steering and shaping algorithms coupled with tight driver spacing and individual amplification of all drivers to provide coverage accuracy and high audio performance. CAL also has recently become the first AVnu-certified AVB loudspeaker product.
In three other rooms at The Concertgebouw, Meyer Sound UPJunior VariO and UPM-1P loudspeakers along with UMS-1P and USW-1P subwoofers provide reinforcement as needed in the Small Hall, Choir Hall, and Pleinfoyer. For amplified concerts, The Concertgebouw deploys a flown MINA line array loudspeaker system, supplied as needed by PME-Téchnica of Amsterdam.
The Concertgebouw now joins two other world-renowned orchestral venues, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus Berlin, both of which have installed Meyer Sound CAL within the last year. And all three venues are listed among the five best venues in the world for their acoustical qualities for symphonic music, according to eminent acoustician Leo Beranek.