German system designers hartmann+mathias partnerschaft and acoustic consultants Peutz unveiled a new audio system for the auditorium at Cologne University.
Four Renkus-Heinz ICONYX IC 24 digitally steerable array loudspeakers, supplied by German distributor atlantic audio and installed by Light Tec Medientechnik deliver focused speech and music in the main lecture hall for this prestigious university.
Karl-Heinz Brenig, head of event and media technology at Cologne University, specified the University’s requirements for the auditorium, which serves six faculties and 42,039 students, 10 per cent of whom are from other countries. The university, which is among Europe’s oldest, was founded in 1388 and continues to grow.
The auditorium in the main building is the central location for lectures, speeches, live concerts and music performances, and also for events such as scientific symposia and international congresses.
Klaus-Hendrik Lorenz-Kierakiewitz, project manager at Peutz Consult GmbH, comments: “We were instructed by Cologne University to develop a new speaker concept adjusted to the special room acoustics and worked out a system which uses as few sources as possible.
The room working as concert hall and lecture room has two-second reverberation time with few occupants, and with the wooden seating there is a considerable difference in sound compared to when the room is full.
Following a tender Stefan Mathias of hartmann+mathias partnerschaft proposed a Renkus-Heinz Iconyx digitally steerable loudspeaker system, featuring a pair of 3 metre-tall IC24 units, supported by two Renkus-Heinz PN 212 subwoofers and controlled by a Peavey X Frame 88 digital signal processor.
“We evaluated the combination,” says Matthias, “in cooperation with atlantic audio before presentation, and confirmed a perfect combination of speech intelligibility and musicality, in an architecturally discrete package.”
Karl-Heinz Brenig added: “Our tutors are really enthusiastic and confirm that speech intelligibility has been transformed in all areas of the auditorium, and finally voices sound natural.”
“Tutors and students work more self-assuredly and our guests can follow speeches much more easily, especially important at international events – and musical events now sound great, too.”