InterContinental Bangkok strives for superiority with Renkus-Heinz
Published: ASIA
THAILAND: After more than a decade of the using the facility, the management at the InterContinental Bangkok hotel (formerly Le Meridien Bangkok) recently decided that the time had come to equip its famous ballroom with a brand new audio system, intending to solidify its reputation as the premiere banquet venue in Bangkok. Moving away from the portable design used previously, installers Vichai Trading 1983 designed and integrated a fixed install audio system based around Renkus-Heinz speakers and Yamaha mixing consoles.
Vichai is no stranger to the InterContinental Bangkok and has been the hotel’s preferred A/V systems integrator ever since its construction. The five-star resort, located right in the heart of the Ratchaprasong, comprises 381 rooms, 39 suites, 22 meeting rooms and five restaurants. With many guests staying at the hotel due to its location in the heart of the business district, the sizeable ballroom is able to accommodate 1,000 stand-up guests or up to 600 for a gala dinner.
The portable sound system used in the ballroom up until now had become inadequate for two main reasons. The system needed to be set up and packed back away at the beginning and end of every event. This was coupled with the fact that sound distribution was heavily skewed towards the areas surrounding the speakers, with little coverage at the rear of the room.
‘As the space is quite large, the revised sound system needed to be able to fully cover the large ballroom space (55m x 25m), while maintaining consistency of no more than 3dB to 4dB variation in sound pressure levels throughout the room,’ explained Thitikorn Sophokchai from Vichai Trading 1983. ‘It also needed to be versatile and adaptable to different usages of the ballroom as well as the different layouts.’
Renkus-Heinz Iconyx ICL-FR-DUAL digitally steerable line array speakers were positioned on either side of the stage along with accompanying IC-RC1 subwoofers. Mounted directly to the wall, the speaker housing is very similar to the design of the light fixtures, truly allowing them to blend into the décor. A third IC-FR-DUAL column speaker is installed at the far end of room both to provide additional reinforcement, or if divided into smaller rooms, sole reinforcement for its environment. The speakers have also been configured with presets that allow the sound to be evenly distributed both when the whole ballroom is used or when it is divided up, and can be accessed by staff via an installed IC-Live remote control wall panel.
Audio signals are passed through Cobranet, which directly interfaces with the hotel’s existing DSP infrastructure, and sources enter the system via either 16- or 32-channel Yamaha LS9 mixing consoles and RJ45 24-way patchbay. A Biamp autoTWO automatic mixer provides simple summation of microphone sources.
‘Following the installation of the Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Live Dual speakers by Vichai Trading 1983, users of the InterContinental Bangkok ballroom will hear consistent sound that is evenly distributed from the stage to the back end of the ballroom,’ concluded Mr Sophokchai. ‘Even sound distribution and exceptional speech clarity are the special qualities of Renkus-Heinz Iconyx series, which is further enhanced by the presets that allow for changes in the usage of the ballroom spaces.