7040A Studiosubwoofer

The Amerikalinjen building located in the most central and vibrant part of Oslo has a rich and colourful history. It was inaugurated in 1919 as the headquarters of the Norwegian America Line, a hugely successful passenger and freight shipping company that opened up the New World for hundreds of thousands of Norwegians.

100 years later the architectural landmark has been reborn as one of Oslo’s premier urban boutique hotels, complete with a comprehensive Genelec sound system supplied by Norwegian pro audio specialists, Benum. Occupying some of Oslo’s most prime real estate, Amerikalinjen - owned by the Nordic Choice Hotels group - has retained all of its authenticity whilst providing today’s travellers with a thoroughly modern experience.

You know that once they are in, the client will have trouble-free service for years.

The remit was clear – Amerikalinjen wanted the best possible sound in all areas of the hotel, to match the rest of the high quality services and fittings. The requirement was for four separate areas: reception; the restaurant; the cocktail bar; and the beautifully luxuriant conservatory at the heart of the hotel. Everything should sound extraordinary.

“Genelec was a completely natural choice for this installation,” declares Ronald Hernes, Benum CEO who oversaw the Amerikalinjen project. “Firstly, the sound quality is second to none. Secondly, they are active speakers which are therefore easier to cable and install, and there is no need for an amp rack room. Finally, you know that once they are in, the client will have trouble-free service for years. There’s no doubt that, for a project of this calibre, Genelec ticks all the boxes.” Nevertheless, he recalls that the mission was not without its challenges:

“From an architectural point of view, the building is beautiful with lofty ceilings and large windows,” says Hernes. “It looks wonderful, but it’s not ideal when it comes to speaker placement. Our main concern was achieving the required coverage with such large volumes of space to cover. In the conservatory, we also had to think about the reflections off the glass roof. Fortunately there’s quite a lot of greenery which helps deaden the room a little.”

We are getting positive feedback on the sound on a weekly basis.

Benum suggested increasing the amount of loudspeakers in each area in order to achieve optimal coverage and sound quality even at low levels, yet still conserving sufficient headroom to be able to turn up the volume when required for a more party-like ambience.

“We opted for eight of the larger 4030Cs in the cocktail bar to make sure they had enough power for the late-night crowd. For reception, the restaurant, and the conservatory ‘garden’ we used lots of 4020Cs. Each area also benefits from a pair of 7040A subwoofers (except reception which only has one) to provide a subtle, but critical boost to the low end without
being too physically imposing. In total we installed thirty-eight 4020Cs, eight 4030Cs and seven 7040A subs. Everything is on a Dante network distributed via an Allen & Heath dLive DM0 MixRack which is broken out into analogue at each zone via a Neutrik interface, and then to the loudspeakers via Sonifex active balanced splitters. Each zone is equipped with an A&H IP1 network controller which gives local operators access to source selection and
volume. Finally, we put an A&H IP6 in reception which provides control over multiple zones.”

Wilhelm Hartwig, Amerikalinjen’s general manager, is delighted with the results. “High quality audio, especially in the common areas, was an early focus,” he explains. “We chose Genelec as a premium Scandinavian brand and we are incredibly happy with the results. We are getting positive feedback on the sound on a weekly basis. I’ve worked at many hotels but I can’t ever remember guests commenting on the sound quality before! That is really quite something.”

A powerful blend of Genelec products delivers exemplary audio performance at leading martial arts gym in Sweden.

The SPR Athlete Factory is a premium gym in the heart of the Swedish capital of Stockholm, specialising in functional physical performance training, or body mechanics, and high-level martial arts. Founder, Waldo Zapata, was keen to create the best possible environment for his athletes, both during their training sessions as well as before and after, and this included a state-of-the-art sound system based on Genelec’s 4000 Series installation loudspeakers installed by systems integrators, MA Ljud & Bildmontage - who had already installed a Genelec system into Zapata’s first gym in Södermalm.

“As with the first venue, our primary objective was to ensure a consistently good audio performance throughout the building,” says Morgan Askeholt, owner and founder of MA Ljud & Bildmontage. “One of the main reasons for selecting Genelec initially was the impeccable sound quality, and the fact that you know that they will continue to deliver that quality for many years to come. I particularly appreciate the Directivity Control Waveguide technology which enabled us to deliver a flat frequency response for excellent sound both on- and off-axis. This was important for the Södermalm installation which, as a retro-fit, meant that the positioning of some of the speakers was not perhaps as we would’ve liked. However, for the City venue, we were able to integrate the audio design into the build, which means our results were better still.”

“The best sound is what you feel and experience without it being an intrusion or a distraction.”
Nevertheless, the acoustic environment in any gymnasium is a challenging one, and the new city centre SPR Athlete Factory was no exception with a large amount of hard, reflective surfaces, including stone. “My goal was to fill the respective sound zones with the right number of speakers to ensure that the system can be heard everywhere, even at low levels, despite the challenging environment,” explains Askeholt. “The best sound is what you feel and experience without it being an intrusion or a distraction.”

A total of nine zones have been set up on the premises, facilitated via Sonos CONNECT players. Mono summing adapters were used with every Sonos player in order to provide a mono signal to all the Genelec speakers. As the Sonos units don’t have a designated subwoofer output, Askeholt used the bass management feature of Genelec’s 7040A subwoofer to resolve the issue. The result is that music can be easily streamed and played in different zones through the entire Genelec speaker setup, providing outstanding audio clarity and precision.

In the larger areas such as the gym and the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) combat area, Askeholt opted for Genelec’s powerful 4040A active loudspeakers, and thanks to their impressive low frequency performance there was no need to install additional subwoofers - saving space and ensuring a more streamlined setup. The 4040A’s phoenix-type connectors made installation straightforward, allowing them to be daisy-chained together.

“The fact that they are all active is a big bonus as it simplifies installation and saves space."
A combination of 4030C and the slightly smaller 4020C loudspeakers are used throughout the rest of the facility including the juice/coffee bar, the locker rooms, and reception - which also features a Genelec 7040A subwoofer to reinforce the low end. “The volume in the reception area needs to be at very low levels, so the addition of a subwoofer helps to improve the sound considerably,” explains Askeholt.

“In addition to their excellent sound quality, Genelec’s 4000 Series installation loudspeakers offer a number of other benefits,” he continues. “The fact that they are all active is a big bonus as it simplifies installation and saves space, since we don’t have to find room for an amplifier rack. There is also a very wide choice of mounting accessories making it very easy to adapt the installation to the constraints of the room. The results across both gyms have been excellent, both from an audio point of view, and also the experience of working with Genelec equipment. I shall definitely be specifying Genelec loudspeakers much more for commercial projects in the future.”

The Finnish Sports Museum housed at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki has recently reopened to the public with a completely revitalised permanent exhibition after extensive renovations closed the venue for five years. The new exhibitions celebrate Finnish sport using the best of what modern technology has to offer, including a state-of-the-art Genelec Smart IP audio solution. All audio, video and control technology was supplied by AV integration specialists Studiotec Oy, with AV and sound design by building services engineering experts, Granlund Oy.

Granlund’s Aki Päivärinne and Timo Muurinen were responsible for the AV design. “Our aim was to put the visitor in the middle of the action, to make them feel as if they are really there,” says Päivärinne. “It’s hard to think of any sport where sound is not a crucial part of the experience. Sounds from various sports are accompanied with occasional musical layers specially composed for the exhibition, and UX (User Experience) sounds. The sound design was realised using object-based sound design tools – immersive audio is the key to making the experience as complete as possible.”

The Smart IP speakers are definitely the most important element of
the audio solution.

Päivärinne specified Genelec’s Smart IP range of loudspeakers for most of the sound design, as they met all of his criteria for quality and particularly for ease of deployment. “The ability to use the museum’s existing CAT cabling infrastructure for both power and audio signal transport simplified the system design and installation enormously, as we didn’t have to worry about any analogue cables – everything just sits on the existing network.”

Project manager Pauli Lamsijärvi from Studiotec agrees. “The Smart IP speakers are definitely the most important element of the audio solution and certainly made life easier for us in terms of installation,” he notes. “They operate on the Dante network which carries both audio and control signals. It even delivers power to the speakers via PoE, which is something of a revolution in the audio world. The audio quality is what we’re used to hearing from Genelec – in other words, world class – so we’re very pleased with the results.”

The result is a fully immersive experience that truly brings the action to life for the visitor.

One of the largest exhibitions is Finnish sporting heroes across the ages. Visitors are treated to a massive video projection by Finnish visual artist, Janne Ahola, combined with a 10-channel immersive sound design using Genelec 4430s that places sound objects in space relative to what is happening on the screen. The result is a fully immersive experience that truly brings the action to life for the visitor.

Another exhibition is dedicated to winter sports. “Winter sports are important for us Finns, so this was another area where we wanted to make the experience as real as possible,” says Päivärinne. “Once again, we have a multichannel sound system using eight 4430 Smart IP loudspeakers in a stretched diamond layout that works with a short movie projected onto a 98” LED screen. Visitors will find themselves amongst children playing in the snow, skating on a frozen lake or even swimming in the lake – since Finns are a bit mad like that! Another part of the winter sports section takes us up onto the slopes with skiers and snowboarders. There is even an authentic double chair lift from 1965 with a huge screen behind it to reinforce the impression of being out on the slopes. Here I used four 4430s.”

The final area to use a Smart IP solution is the water sports exhibition which is brought to life using a 4-channel immersive sound system with four 4430s. Visitors experience the thrills of scuba diving below the waves to sailing above them, before being hurled into a canoe to negotiate the rapids.

Where the requirement was for stereo rather than immersive sound, Päivärinne opted for Genelec 8010 and 8030 loudspeakers, as the media players are located close to the loudspeakers. The larger installations with immersive multichannel sound designs all use Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers run from dedicated media servers capable of outputting Dante signals.

All of the museum's AV equipment is controlled from a single touch screen linked to the control system. All the projectors and dozens of monitors can be turned on and off at the touch of a button. It also enables control of all the loudspeakers and the content fed to them, and the control system also manages signal delay to keep the pictures and sound in sync.

The museum’s development director Kaisa Laitinen is delighted with the results. “Through spectacular visuals and a strong world of sound, the museum visitor's experience is better than ever,” she declares. “Studiotec and Granlund have done a great job in bringing our vision to life. The use of the latest technology enables visitors to share in the adrenalin, the triumphs and the disappointments along with all the emotions and feelings that sport brings. I’m very proud of what we have achieved and I’m excited to share it with the public.”