L-Acoustics has installed a large-scale audio upgrade at the historic Istrian People’s Theatre (INK) in Pula, Croatia.
The iconic European venue is now hosting international music ensembles and dramatic productions following the upgrade, which replaced all of its sound reinforcement and monitoring systems with L-Acoustics Syva and X Series technologies, as well as LA4X amplification.
The theatre’s origins lay with the much smaller Teatro Nuovo (New Theatre), built in 1854 when Pula was part of the Austrian Empire. That was replaced in 1879 by a much grander version.
In 2004, the theatre was officially renamed the Istrian People’s Theatre, City Theatre Pula, and is now generally branded as INK (Istarsko Narodno Kazalište). Its main auditorium has a capacity of 699, spread across the main sitting area, lodges for spectators on the first and second floors and the balcony on the third floor.
Syva is a co-linear system that features six MF and three HF drivers loaded by DOSC waveguides for wide coverage with extended throw. The solution at INK uses four Syva, four Syva Low and two Syva Sub units for the main stage left and right reinforcement, as well as four 5XT coaxial enclosures as left and right fills for the row of theatre boxes. All of the enclosures are custom coloured in line with the RAL colour-matching standard to blend with the theatre’s proscenium and balcony railings.
In the near future, the theatre will also have L-Acoustics ARCS Wide, ARCS Focus and X12 for its stage monitoring system, as well as ARCS Wide, ARCS Focus and SB18 for its additional small stage.
“We were looking for something with fantastic sound quality that would also blend in with the spectacular historic architecture,” said Miodrag Flego, sound manager at the theatre. “We decided that Syva had the best of both worlds.
“We had a lot of help from L-Acoustics engineers in specifying the new systems. We would not have been able to achieve such a great result without their input, or the design assistance of L-Acoustics Soundvision software. It was Soundvision that highlighted the need for the extra first-level fills, which have made a big difference to the coverage for the boxes at the extreme left and right ends.”
As well as maintaining a busy dramatic programme, INK has hosted several high-profile jazz acts since installing the new system, including Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward, the Mingus Big Band and Jason Moran & The Bandwagon.
