Uganda (April 27, 2020) — International Hindu organization BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha recently built Kampala Hall in Uganda as part of its ongoing mission to bring Hindu ideals around the world, and installed a steerable Renkus-Heinz ICLive X system into the facility.
Renkus-Heinz equipment has often been a part of the group’s installations, according to BAPS’s technology overseer, Kaivalyamurti Swami, known colloquially as KV Swami – is a Technology Overseer in BAPS.
“When we first went to visit the Uganda site in April 2019, Kampala Hall didn’t exist,” said KV Swami. “We went there and we looked at, basically, a concrete box that was in place. No interior design was settled on yet, so, we asked the team at Renkus-Heinz if they could model the location for us with the information we had.”
The model provided by Renkus-Heinz then allowed him and his team to recommend a complete design for the new building. Instead of analog cabling, for example, Audinate’s Dante would be the backbone of the system, and they could plan to place the Renkus-Heinz speakers in a way that would blend into the final design.
“Renkus-Heinz provided a custom color on the speakers so they would blend right into the cloth being used,” he said. “They disappear into the space extremely well.” He found out himself when he returned three weeks before the opening of the facility to install the system.
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In all, the installation utilizes a pair of ICLive XL-RD Main Speakers, as well as two ICLive LLX-RD Main Speakers; three P3-64RD Front Fills; two P3-64RD Balcony Fills; a pair of P3-64RD Under Balcony Fills; three VA15S-RD Center Flown Subwoofers; and two DR18-2B-RD Under Stage Subwoofers.
“Just three days before we opened the space, we booted up the Renkus-Heinz RHAON software and were able to get the hall sound configured easily for all the speakers from one interface,” said KV Swami. “By digitally steering the sound, we were able to make it sound not only intelligible but also theatrical.”
“After very little tuning, it sounded just phenomenal,” KV Swami said. “As you walk backward from the front and listen to it, you really can appreciate how uniformed and perfect the sound is regardless of where you are sitting or standing in the hall. The speeches are crystal clear and the intelligibility is just awesome; music is divine and theatrical.”
The first assembly took place within days of Kampala Hall’s audio system being ready to go. KV Swami said they had little worry about the results, but they were still pleased with how the system worked when the time came: “Our spiritual leader – His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj – is a soft speaker and projecting his speech without feedback can be a challenge on many systems. The speakers performed so well with the hall acoustically well treated and well-tuned, that he was able to speak naturally and be heard clearly by all. Many people expressed their appreciation for the clarity of speech the system produced.”
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha • http://www.baps.org.
Renkus-Heinz • www.renkus-heinz.com
