Finland's Sibelius Concert Hall Prefers Meyer Sound M'elodie

Housed in the Sibelius Hall Congress and Concert Centre, the 1,229-seat Main Hall serves as the home to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and a year-round program of Finnish light music, standup comedy, and operettas. Listed by Sydney Morning Herald and Gramophone magazine as being among the world's best concert venues, the Main Hall's physical acoustic features were designed by New York-based Artec Consultants in 2000. For presentations that require amplification, the hall has recently upgraded to Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeakers.

Featuring flexible acoustical designs such as corrugated walls to scatter reflected sounds, and moving canopy above the stage, the venue's staff members chose carefully when it came time to update the sound reinforcement equipment.

"For the sound system upgrade at the Main Hall, we decided early on that it had to provide high-quality sound, with a good reputation among technicians and artists," says Jukka Kaunisto, Sibelius Hall's operations manager.

"We listened to a lot of systems from different manufacturers," continues Kaunisto. "Finally, after hearing a Meyer Sound line array system during the Bo Kaspers Orkester concert at the hall, our sound engineers and I decided to go with Meyer Sound."

The system comprises left and right flown arrays with nine M'elodie line array loudspeakers and two 500-HP subwoofers. The additional centre array combines two 700-HP subwoofers above two UPQ-1P loudspeakers and two UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers on motorized chain hoists that can be moved up into the ceiling. Eight MM-4 miniature loudspeakers serve as stage lip front fill, and two UPJ-1P loudspeakers are used for stage fill and out fill. A Galileo loudspeaker management system, consisting of Galileo 616 and Galileo 408 processors, is used for delay and equalization. System commission and tuning was charged to Studiotec, while design specifics were handled by Jan Holm of Helsinki-based Teakon Theatre consultants.

Kaunisto is enthusiastic about the reaction to the new Meyer Sound system: "In the last few months, we have had more than 30 events, during which many artists and sound engineers have praised the system."

Situated on the Vesijärvi waterfront in Finland, the Sibelius Hall was named after Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The complex was designed by Hannu Tikka and Kimmo Lintula of Artto Palo Rossi Tikka Architects.