The JK Tyl Theatre (Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre) in Pilsen, Czech Republic, the city’s largest professional theatre that’s divided into two primary performance spaces — The Great Theatre and The New Theatre — sees the latter recently equipped with the first permanent L-Acoustics Ambiance Acoustic System in Europe.
The 460-capacity New Theatre is purpose-designed to accommodate four main genres of theatre craft: operas, dramas, musicals, and ballets. To meet the demand of these varied performances, management sought a flexible audio approach, selecting L-Acoustics Czech distributor ProMusic to provide the system.
The theatre’s team sought to provide optimal acoustics for performances that include unamplified concerts such as string quartets, seeking an approach that would allow for greater flexibility in sound perception and improve room acoustics for both performers and audience. As changeover times between shows are limited, variable acoustics that can be quickly changed were another factor in their choice.
To address this, The New Theatre’s technical manager, Igor Staškovič, and the venue team partnered with Daniel Krčmář of ProMusic on the project. With the Ambiance Acoustic System, the team can now increase the reverberation time from 0.95s up to 2.0s with the press of a button on the L-ISA Controller. This allows them to activate the appropriate pre-tuned configuration for orchestral music, opera or theatre production. Implementing the system also fosters greater intelligibility and more natural sound for unamplified concerts.
“Ambiance represents the cutting-edge of active acoustics, offering a unique combination of premium acoustics and immersive audio realism,” states Julien Laval, ppplication project manager at L-Acoustics. “The Ambiance Acoustic System features an immersive loudspeaker design that requires both surround and overheads to create a proper acoustic field, providing a rich and immersive audio experience. The loudspeaker and microphone systems are designed using Soundvision, L-Acoustics 3D-mapping design software, ensuring the system is tailored to fit the geometry and volume of the room.”
Ambiance uses an array of strategically placed microphones to capture the existing acoustical energy of the venue and processes the signals through the L-ISA Room Engine built within the L-ISA Processor II. The L-ISA 3D audio reverberation leverages the DSP resources within the L-ISA Processor II through a cross-functional approach to help shape the venue’s acoustic identity, crafting Ambiance Signatures by adjusting three key types of reflections.
Each Ambiance preset or “signature” is designed to meet the performance requirements of the venue, from simple acoustic enhancement to immersive hyperreal productions. Ambiance and L-ISA can operate independently or be combined to create a range sonic possibilities, adding flexibility in system design. Six Ambiance Signatures enable the end user to find the right matches for the various event types, with residual noise minimized as much as possible during pure acoustics concerts.
The L-ISA system consists of 71 loudspeakers in total. In the main audience area of the theatre, the flown L-ISA Scene system comprises five arrays of two A10i Focus and two A10i Wide each, with two further extension arrays of A10i (Wide and Focus) flanking the stage. Spatial frontfill is provided by 5XT across the stage lip while 19 X8 are dotted around the theatre for surrounds and overheads. KS21i subwoofers provide low-end extension.
The setup also includes 12 omni and cardioid microphones; eight omni microphones placed at front of house, above the audience, and four cardioid microphones above the performers. LA4X and LA2Xi amplifiers drive the loudspeakers.
“Concertgoers can now look forward to an exceptional audio experience at the theatre, thanks to L-ISA Ambiance,” adds Laval. “This innovative system enables the theatre’s acoustics to be tailored precisely to the specific genre and work being performed. As a result, visitors to the theatre can expect outstanding acoustics for a range of performances, including drama, opera, musicals, and ballet, as well as large-scale philharmonic or symphonic concerts.”
Theatre director Martin Otava concludes, “The exceptional feature of the system lies in its ability to function seamlessly with artists, with or without direct sound reinforcement. The built-in reverberation system creates a truly immersive experience, enveloping the audience in sound from both the stage and auditorium. The system’s greatest advantage is its ability to produce entirely natural sound, allowing the listener to feel completely integrated with the action on stage without any artificial sound effects.”
