Madrid’s WiZink Center has upgraded its audio offering with a variety of solutions from Electro-Voice and Dynacord.
The two-year project from Spanish distribution partner and AV specialist ACSON Light & Sound Systems and system integrator Assembly AV was designed to ensure that the venue has the technical capabilities to deliver everything from concerts and sports matches to smaller corporate events and congresses.
The venue was originally conceived in the early 1950s before opening to the public in 1960. While a rebuilding project in the early 2000s ensured that the capacity of the main arena could be expanded, it current management company, Impulsa Eventos e Instalaciones S.A., which decided to turn the WiZink Center into a multi-purpose venue in 2014.
To deliver on this vision, the management company turned to ACSON and Assembly AV for an audio systems refresh in 2018. Over the course of two years, the companies worked together to create dedicated solutions for six different areas, including VIP lounges, a pressroom, meeting rooms and the main arena itself.
“The areas are very different and each one has its own complexity,” said Daniel Nieto, from Impulsa AV who designed the installation. “I needed a company capable of offering a 360 ‘turnkey’ solution by an established brand.”
While the challenges in each space were different, the ideal sound system solutions were consistently sourced from the extensive Electro-Voice and Dynacord product portfolios.
The most challenging audio tasks were in the main arena itself, with asymmetrical grandstands, working around planned LED screen upgrades, and the inability to hang loudspeakers from the ceiling. A two-phase approach to the installation was taken, with the initial stage seeing horizontal arrays of Electro-Voice EVH-1152D horn-loaded loudspeaker systems powered by Dynacord IPX5:4 amplifiers to cover the first tier. Once the LED panels had been replaced, the second phase saw 18 EVH-1152D speakers installed around the video scoreboard to cover the remaining area. Ten EVF-1152D units cover areas of the third level with the aim of increasing intelligibility. Further IPX 5:4 amplifiers provide a redundant OCA network through two fiber-optic rings.
Other areas of the building, such as the MegaBarra meeting spaces, are equipped with Dynacord C series amplifiers powering Electro-Voice EVID loudspeakers, while EVOLVE 50 column systems offer a portable solution for the venue. Meanwhile, the acoustically complex pressroom now features six Electro-Voice EVU-1062 ultracompact speakers, with a Dynacord CMS 1000-3 mixing console and Electro-Voice PolarChoice Desktop 18” microphones completing the solution.
“The combination of Electro-Voice loudspeakers with Dynacord electronics turned out to be the best solution, with optimum results in all of the spaces,” said Vanessa Garos, procurement and logistics manager from ACSON Light & Sound Systems. “This extensive two-year project has ensured that the WiZink Center will be able to continue delivering the premium events its audiences expect with pristine audio quality throughout the venue.”
