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Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Compact beam steering arrays installed in one of the lecture halls at the University Hospital of Zürich in Switzerland.

University Hospital Of Zürich Integrates Renkus-Heinz To Support Student Academics

Switzerland school's lecture halls equipped with Iconyx Compact beam steering arrays while classrooms are outfitted with C Series loudspeakers and CA112S subwoofers.

As on-campus student attendance declined due to the pandemic, administrators at the University Hospital of Zürich (Universitäts Spital Zürich) in Switzerland took advantage of the empty spaces to upgrade the performance of sound reinforcement systems serving lecture halls and classrooms in a project utilizing several Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker models.

Specifically, the administrators sought to improve audio quality, coverage and voice intelligibility to facilitate a more optimal learning environment to enhance student comprehension. Chris Steiger, CEO at Renkus-Heinz distributor promedias AG, explains that the school’s lecture halls are relatively shallow, wide and tightly packed with steep-tiered, theater-style rows with seating for more than 150 students. The irregular shape of the spaces, coupled with reflective ceiling and wall surfaces, creates a difficult-to-manage audio environment.

“The instructors had difficulty addressing students because the sound levels in the halls were very inconsistent,” Steiger says. “They needed audio systems to precisely control high-quality sound to cover the space evenly, therefore increasing intelligibility. Our team knew Renkus-Heinz beam steering arrays would provide the control and coverage needed, all without being a visual distraction within the space.”

The promedias AG team wall mounted a pair of Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Compact beam steering arrays behind the podiums in each of the lecture halls. The installed ICC12/3 array systems, offering a slim profile, are equipped with an individually controlled, 12-channel digital amplifier that powers the array’s 12 full-range, 3-inch drivers.

“When we started to define the Iconyx Compact arrays, we had this exact type of application in mind; the spaces where the quality of spoken word is critical and audio needs to be tightly controlled, but the product footprint needs to be minimal,” adds Michał Popławski, European technical sales manager, Renkus-Heinz. “The ICC Series provides integrators great flexibility in terms of price, performance and footprint, and we’re excited that Chris and the promedias AG team selected Renkus-Heinz solutions for the USZ instruction spaces.”

USZ’s standard classrooms also needed sound system upgrades. While these square, flat rooms with seating for 80 didn’t require the same beam-steering technology as the lecture halls, comparable coverage and intelligibility was still critical. promedias AG specified a set of Renkus-Heinz, C Series CX62 and CX82 externally-powered loudspeakers and a CA112S self-powered subwoofer for each of the smaller classroom configurations.

“Our spaces required excellent intelligibility and promedias AG was able to deliver that with Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers,” concludes Martin Püntener, AV-technician at the university. “From the first rows to the last, the coverage is smooth, the sound is pleasing and understandable. We look forward to upgrading the rest of our spaces, getting back to full attendance, and sharing these excellent new systems with all our instructors and students.”

Renkus-Heinz

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