Cavatina Hall is absolutely exemplary in terms of acoustics and technology and has the potential to become one of the most important cultural centres in southern Poland. Cavatina Hall boasts state-of-the-art stage and audio-visual technology, from microphones to sound and light tracking, up to a visual information system. These systems have been combined into an extensive digital and analogue network; it is the first concert hall of this class in the world to feature L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound L-Acoustics technology.

More than 90 per cent of the audience in the sweet spot, i.e. it does not matter where the spectator is sitting, his or her hearing locates the artist or instrument according to his or her actual position, and not, as before, on the basis of the loudspeaker closer to which his or her seat is located. The listener is the most important, which is why the designed concert hall does not lose its intimate atmosphere, the spectator sees the artist well from every seat and has the chance to establish an almost intimate contact with him or her.

Every material, the numerous wooden systems, the automated curtains and even the seats are no coincidence but have been consciously designed. They have been consistently complemented by the choice of a sound system using L-ISA immersive sound technology.

Cavatina Hall is one of the largest L-ISA installations in Europe, providing the highest audio fidelity. A total of as many as 141 L-Acoustics loudspeaker units were used to create a full L-ISA system operating in a 360-degree area. This allows for full audience immersion, i.e. preserving the spatiality of the sound and compatibility with the image for every seat in the audience.

Each of the seven clusters consists of six broadband and one woofer array. The lowest frequencies are complemented by eight suspended subwoofer arrays suspended above the audience in an end-fired arrangement. The appearance of the sound system, made up of low-profile loudspeaker modules, is supported by Kiva II arrays.

The first rows of the auditorium are supported by a front fill of eight miniature coaxial sets, and the sound in the audience area below the balcony has also been enhanced. Additional wideband sets are placed around the audience, on the side and rear walls: 12 on each of the two balcony levels. A further four of the same sets have been hung from the ceiling to complement the façade sound.

Sound tracking is one of our many assets. An important complement to immersive sound is the object tracking system. It allows musicians, actors, or speakers to be tracked on stage and their movements to be mimicked by the sound system and followed by the lighting equipment. What’s more, with this system it is also possible to automate stage movements and even automatically trigger multimedia under the impact of stage movement.

This is a unique solution on a nationwide scale. At the heart of the system there is the TTA Stagetracker Core processor, which can communicate with the system’s transmitters via a system of antennas. The event director has 32 Stagetracker Tag transmitters at his or her disposal, which he/she can assign to each musician or actor. Cavatina Hall is the first concert hall in Poland that can take full advantage of the shaping of the sound space in L-ISA using the sound tracking system.

The technology designer assumed maximum flexibility of the signals, as well as their free conversion. Therefore, both analogue and digital cables in different formats were routed to each site.

A total of 43 signal connections have been installed, located in the stage area, including the auditorium and backstage area, the entrance hall and the studio, the plafond and lighting bridges, as well as the rooftop patio (for external concerts) and the underground garage (for transmission vehicles).

There are analogue and digital inputs at each of these connections. For  the latter, coaxial, optical and CAT category 6A inputs are available.

All signals from the connections go to the amplification room, where they can be freely crossed over. There are also direct twisted-pair connections between all FOH stations and monitor mixer stations, allowing the consoles to be looped together. Altogether, this makes it possible to connect any console that the sound engineers can think of.

A complex organism such as a concert hall must have internal communication systems that enable the efficient communication of information that is not necessarily intended for the audience.

The intercom system used for this is based on RTS, Bosch, Electro-Voice and Dynacord devices – including 107 public address loudspeakers operating in a 100 V network. The 24 intercom panels are installed in sensitive areas such as the amplification room, the lighting booth, the cinema technician booth, the sound engineers’ workstations, as well as in other areas, such as the box office, the director’s office, the entrance hall, or the foyer.

On the other hand, the stage action preview, which assists in the production of events, is based on 12 SDI cameras. These are Blackmagic video devices and seven preview monitors, including two built into a rack at the stage manager’s station and five installed in the technical rooms.

The concert hall’s lighting system and stage mechanics are controlled from a ChamSys lighting console, while wireless transmission of DMX control signals is provided by the City Theatrical Show mobile system.

The system comprises orchestra lighting spotlights and effect devices, including 60 PAR spotlights, 42 PCs, 42 profile spotlights and 96 effect lights.

It also features Spotlight Vedette guide spotlights.
As with the sound system, the venue also has a mobile lighting system to support events in locations other than the concert hall, consisting of 22 LED PAR spotlights, a mobile power distribution board and a ChamSys mobile lighting controller which controls the whole.

Stage mechanics includes 12 movable battens- seven for lighting equipment and five for loudspeaker equipment – moved by 18 rope winches.

The artists’ podium also has three movable platforms, controlled automatically from the control panel. This arrangement allows for the adaptation of the shape of the stage to the requirements of the production.

For example, a band can perform on a flat stage; and when a show includes a choir, the singers can stand on three levels and this does not require the addition of any stage structures, just the extension of the platforms by pressing a button on the control screen.

A huge cinema screen also has similar control capabilities.

Cavatina Hall has one of the largest screens in Poland and a cinema system consisting of a top-quality 4K projector with a brightness of 35,000 lumens, including optics and a cinema server, with a Dolby cinema sound processor and a 102-square-metre retractable cinema screen.

Its movement is controlled by a dedicated Garriets solution, and it is worth mentioning that the screen roll-down is silent and fast.
In addition, Cavatina Hall also has a 4K Blu-ray player and a video processor with scaler. The hall’s capabilities in terms of cinema technology, as well as any other type of stage technology, are therefore impressive.