The new Prinsessia Castle attraction at the Plopsaland amusement park in Belgium is the site of the country’s first Martin Audio CDD speaker install.
Sound designer Steven Kemland of FACE bvba, specified CDD6 enclosures inside the castle restaurant, and CDD5TX running 100V line outside. There is a total of 50 loudspeakers, which also includes the Martin Audio C4.8T ceiling speaker.
Kemland commented: “Prinsessia provided a great opportunity to use the new range. Such was the power and dispersion that it meant for the first time we didn’t need to place two speakers on small masts, as we had with the C115, but we only needed to use a single CDD5 placed higher up on the pillars. What I noticed immediately was that the sound was even better [than the C115], and although that has done a really great job for us it is now 15 years old.
“The power of CDD is greater, the dispersion is absolutely fabulous, with superior pattern control, and it also looks much nicer. CDD is also sensitively priced and being able to replace two C115 with a single CDD5 keeps the project within budget.”
Inside the Castle, the facility needed the additional power of the CDD6 with a local iPod input for use with presentations. The main banqueting area and the surrounding areas is covered by eight C4.8T ceiling speakers.
Over the past 12 months, Martin Audio solutions have been applied to other areas such as the principal ‘meet and greet’ stage in the main piazza. This performance stage can routinely draw between 3,000-4,000 people into the square, and to broadcast the action Steven Kemland has specified a Martin Audio XD solution, providing six XD15 with two XD12, along with a pair of powerful WS218X subs.
“The XD series on the outdoor stage is one of the best sounding 12in and 15in speakers on the market and at a very competitive price,” Kemland stated.
And Steve Van Camp, part of the Plopsa Invest Team, responsible for investment in the entertainment systems, said: “Originally we set the criteria for the XD to provide coverage for around 500 people, with the normal meet and greets, accompanied by background music. But when we have a live band playing it attracts several thousand, and when we heard the XD, particularly the XD12 stage monitors, we realised it could cope comfortably with that.”
Van Camp added: “We have been happy with their solutions since Plopsaland first opened, and following the initial investment there has been almost no maintenance costs. The C115 has been used now for 15 years and is still working, however we are certain that the new CDD range will deliver an even better service. What we can already hear in the new Prinsessia zone is that we have completely equal dispersion, despite using even fewer cabinets than we would have done with the C115 and AQ5 enclosures.”
