Martin Audio WPM Installed in Schmallenberg's City Hall

Since the laying of the foundation stone in 1953, Stadthalle Schmallenberg in Germany has been able to accommodate various events such as concerts, readings, shooting festivals (popular in that part of the country), and more, with up to 1,500 participants per event.

An extensive refurbishment of the Stadthalle was completed in early March 2019, and this included the renewal of sound and lighting technology. The complete planning and implementation were realized by Event Active, a company from Schmallenberg.

Noel Büchte and Event Active's Sascha Deussen created the concept and implemented the PA system with loudspeakers from Martin Audio.

"We already owned an MLA Mini System for several years, which has often been used in the Stadthalle. The result was always convincing -- both for the customer and for us -- no matter if it was for theatre, a big party, or with trendy DJs," says Büchte.

But the choice for permanent installation fell to Martin Audio's new Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM). The Wavefront Precision series includes three models, from the Mini (2 x 6.5 ") to the Compact (2 x 10") to the Longbow (2 x 12 "), making it perfect for a wide variety of applications, the company says.

"The advantage of the Wavefront Precision Minis over the MLA Mini for installations is in the structure of the system. With the MLA Mini the power amp is installed in the bass, but here we have the appropriate power amp available as a separate 19" device. Furthermore, the native bass of the MLA Mini is a 15" subwoofer. But we needed more low-end for the size of the hall, so we opted for two double-18" subwoofers. Thanks to the software interface, the system parameters could easily be loaded into the power amplifier so that the subs can be perfectly integrated," Deussen explains.

With the help of the display software from Martin Audio, the emission characteristics and level distribution can be simulated very precisely on the computer, so that the resulting preset file only has to be loaded into the final stage via the control and VU-Net remote software.

In the Wavefront series, the system can be driven in the maximum resolution, when each box receives its own amp channel. Event Active decided on this optimum system setup for the one-box solution.

"Budget-oriented applications may adopt the four-box solution, so that four speakers are powered by a single amp channel. The advantage of the one-box solution is a maximum coherent coverage of the audience area and a very precise demarcation to the non-sonic areas," Büchte explains of the Wavefront Precision technology.

The complete cabling adopts the Dante protocol, which can directly process the system amplifiers from Martin Audio without additional plug-in cards. In the 40m-long hall, eight Wavefront Precision Minis are used per side, supported by two SX218 subwoofers. As a front fill, DD6 can be used where necessary and if monitors are needed, two XE300 wedges are available. In the foyer, six Martin Audio CDD5 speakers provide the perfect sound, running on a 100V line. One or more channels can be designed as 100V outlets via the software interface and do not require a separate 100 V power amplifier.

Following the refurbishment, Stadhalle Schmallenberg reopened on March 3, with a concert by Tom Astor.