A two-year, 24 million Swiss franc technical refit has brought a fresh dimension to the cultural and congress centre in the Swiss town of Thun.
The project saw the existing Kultur und Kongresszentrum Thun (or KKThun) building undergo an extension and significant refurbishment.
The existing 740-capacity Schadausaal was completely revamped, including the addition of a moveable wall improved acoustics. It has been joined by a second performance hall, the 500-capacity Lachensaal, a 530sqm foyer and an 80-space basement car park.
The technical upgrade was carried out by Swiss AV specialists Kilchenmann AG and Szeno Engineering, and includes a DME64N digital mixing engine, an M7CL48-ES digital mixing console, an LS9-16 digital mixing console, two SB168-ES stage boxes and an MLA8 mic/line amp.
“It is very a flexible system,” said Kilchenmann technical project manager Rolf Aegerter. “The M7CL and LS9 can be used in either the Schadausaal or in the Lachensaal, while the stage boxes are also used in either room with either or both consoles. We have installed an EtherSound network in both halls, which means that it is very easy to use the equipment in different positions, depending on the event.”
The DME64N is controlled by AMX touch panels and provides a flexible control system for both the Schadausaal and Lachensaal.
“With the DME we have two different user levels,” said Aegerter. “In ‘easy mode’, the mixing desk and stage boxes are not used, with the DME line and microphone inputs (via the MLA8) and four wireless mic channels taking care of all the audio requirements. This allows non-technical venue staff to set the system up for events, without the need for a professional audio engineer to be present.
“However for more complex events, ‘mixing desk mode’ is selected which configures the system for the M7CL, LS9 or both to be used.”
The venue’s technicians are already programming different scenes on the M7CL and LS9 for the wide range of different events hosted by KKThun.
“I looked at a lot of other products and systems before making a choice, but was particularly impressed with the flexibility of the DME64 and SB168-ES,” said Aegerter. “With the Yamaha package we definitely achieved the best price/performance ratio.”
