De Fabriek (‘The Factory’), a popular cinema located on the banks of the Zaan river in the city of Zaandam, just northwest of Amsterdam, recently added a new 30-seat theatre and at the same time updated the audio in its existing 90- and 63-seat theatres, all with Alcons Audio pro-ribbon loudspeakers.
De Fabriek offers an in-depth movie experience, each month featuring introductions, after-talks or panel discussions about its program of films. This approach to providing a more complete experience includes the sound, which is why Alcons pro-ribbon loudspeakers were selected for this project.
The cinema occupies a 100-year-old former school building that’s seen many changes over the years. A recent refurbishment saw original details being preserved and, at the same time, the cinema being brought right up to date with the installation of a Dolby 5.1 system in the new theatre and improving the existing theatres with a modern, high quality sound systems. This included upgrading the largest theatre from Dolby 5.1 to 7.1.
Cinema integration company CinemaNext was approached and, after recommending Alcons for the upgrade, Filmtheater De Fabriek board member Marc Zeldenthuis, managing director Katrien Lamers and project coordinator John de Jong visited the ISE 2020 trade show.
“We first heard Alcons in the company’s demo room at ISE 2020,” John de Jong. “We also visited several other cinemas for information and to listen to their systems. In terms of audio quality and audience sound perception, it quickly became clear that Alcons was the best solution for us.”
The De Fabriek team then attended a demonstration at Filmtheater Focus in Arnhem, which led to the Alcons CR2 three-way compact screen system being chosen for the screens in all three rooms. The CR2 incorporates an RBN601 pro-ribbon HF driver, a twin eight-inch midrange and a 15-inch woofer.
In the two bigger spaces CinemaNext added CB181sl 18-inch shallow subwoofers and CCS6 small-format surround loudspeakers that has a one-inch-exit compression driver with a 6.5-inch woofer in coaxial configuration. Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers were installed in each room for power and control.
“The clarity and lack of interference distortion, even at higher volumes, impressed us the most and the systems perform very well,” de Jong says. “As our first Alcons installation, we are very happy with the sound and are sure that our audiences will be, too.”
