Magdeburg, December 2019: Music, comedy, TV shows and sports – the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg is the largest multipurpose hall in Saxony-Anhalt. The main user is the Handball Bundesliga (national first division handball league) club SC Magdeburg. The high utilization of the venue left very little time to renew the sound system as part of the building´s conversion into one of most modern halls in Germany. The experienced audio specialists from SALZBRENNER media completed the ambitious conversion scheme in just two weeks.

Magdeburg´s municipal facilities management company, responsible for the regional capital´s properties, commissioned SALZBRENNER media to replace all the PA system loudspeakers with a new, modern solution tailored to handle the different GETEC Arena utilization scenarios. Additionally, a redundant digital audio network was installed. Apart from the main control room the system can now also be controlled from four additional positions in the arena and extra audio components can be connected. Planning of the project was handled by the planning office ADA Acoustics & Media Consultants GmbH from Berlin.

Special construction for the centre cluster

The new sound reinforcement speakers for addressing the grandstands on the long side and the front of the arena could be installed at the old locations. In the centre of the hall, where the speakers are installed in a circle, each at an angle of 60°, a special solution was required. During sports events a video ring is mounted underneath the centre cluster, which partially obstructs the loudspeakers. The Franconian full-service provider’s engineers solved the problem by positioning the new line arrays in front of the video ring using a special attachment. The speakers above the stage area, which are used for conferences and similar events were mounted in the existing rigging constructions.

Very short project duration

The arena was equipped with Kling & Freitag Nomos XLS subwoofers and Gravis 15 W and Sequenza 5 W multi-way loudspeaker systems, a Yamaha QL 1 digital mixing console and a large screen video projector were also installed. Custom mounting structures for loudspeakers, patch panels and wall junction boxes were manufactured by SALZBRENNER media. “The extremely tight time frame for the installation, due to the high utilization of the hall, and the custom mounting brackets for the centre cluster speakers presented two challenges we accepted gladly and mastered”, recalls Philipp Bauch, project manager for SALZBRENNER media.