hen the Allianz Arena in Munich,
Germany, opened in 2005 it became
the first stadium to feature a full
color-changing exterior thanks to an
iconic façade made of almost 3,000
air-filled panels. Inside is just as impressive, with the
three-tiered stadium construction leaving an
impression on the 75,000-plus spectators who come to
see national and international sport, and especially to
support home soccer team Bayern Munich.
This season, the sound system in the Allianz
Arena has stepped up its game. In cooperation with
the engineering and planning office Müller-BBM,
L-Acoustics Certified Provider System Integrator
Wilhelm & Willhalm event technology group have
installed an extensive Kara system from L-Acoustics.
Since the arena opened, Wilhelm & Willhalm has
been the infotainment technology service provider to
the venue, and won the upgrade project when Müller-
BBM launched a tender for the new sound system,
which needed to provide optimized, uniform sound
level distribution across all three tiers, improve the
transmission quality for music playback, as well as
increase speech intelligibility for announcements.
In addition, the new system needed to anticipate
the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament where, as part of the
first pan-European European Football Championship,
the Allianz Arena will be the only German stadium.
Three preliminary round matches and a quarter-final
are already scheduled, and the venue’s sound system
needed to meet UEFA stadium standards.
Müller-BBM previously worked with the arena and
Wilhelm & Willhalm to optimize room and building
acoustics at the venue. This experience helped when it
came to designing a new sound reinforcement system.
“The stadium’s membrane roof creates considerable
reverberation in the spectator area. For this reason,
care was taken to design a system that delivers sound
to the spectators, minimizing reflections,” says Thomas
Dürrbeck, who was responsible for planning and
construction at Wilhelm & Willhalm.
Weight restrictions also played a role: “Due to the
static restrictions in the roof area, only an eight-inch
array system was considered,” adds Harald Frisch, sound
engineer at Müller-BBM. “L-Acoustics’ Kara system
offers an ideal ratio of weight, precision of coverage,
achievable sound pressure level and sound quality.”
In total, the L-Acoustics installation in the arena
comprises 266 Kara line-source elements as well as 54
SB18 subwoofers for the main PA, with 48 ARCS WiFo
as delay arrays in the curved areas and 70 5XT coaxial
compact loudspeakers under the balconies. The system
is driven by 110 LA4X amplified controllers with a
system output of 440,000W, which are distributed over
10 central amplifiers, each with two 40U system racks.
“The cooperation with Müller-BBM was excellent –
extremely flexible and professional in every phase of
the installation,” says Wilhelm & Willhalm’s Dürrbeck.
“From the very beginning it was clear that all parties
involved were working together as a large team.”
“We are delighted the Allianz Arena now has a Kara
system that meets the stadium’s leadership requirements,
as well as the requirements of UEFA,” concludes Jochen
Frohn, L-Acoustics director of business development.
“The cooperation between Müller-BBM, Wilhelm &
Willhalm and the Allianz Arena enabled planning,
commissioning and installation of the system in a
very short time. Hearing the system when it was
fired up filled us with great joy and pride.” n
AUDIO
L-ACOUSTICS
SOUND
SOLUTIONS
The design
and installation
of a new audio
system at the
Allianz Arena
saw a team of
expert companies
coming together
to work in close
collaboration
(Above) The Allianz Arena
in Munich now features an
L-Acoustics Kara audio system
that provides optimized sound
distribution and enhanced
music and speech in time for
the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament
160 www.stadia-magazine.com Showcase 2020
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
L-ACOUSTICS
To learn more about this advertiser, visit
www.magupdate.co.uk/psta NOW!
/www.stadia-magazine.com
/psta
/www.stadia-magazine.com
/psta
