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Belgrade’s Sava Centar installs L-Acoustics L2

Built in 1979 as part of New Belgrade’s wave of large-scale modernist architecture, the Blue Hall at Sava Centar is one of the region’s most demanding audio environments. The 4,000-seat auditorium measures roughly 50 metres wide by 45 metres deep, with a stage volume that rivals many purpose-built concert halls.

Its retained theatrical staging infrastructure - a structure designed for a different era of production - presents rigging limitations that any visiting production company will recognise immediately. And at the centre of the stage opening sits a 20 x 11-metre cinema screen, the largest of its kind in the region, which dominates both the visual and acoustic geometry of the room.

For decades, the hall operated without a permanent sound system. Touring events arrived with their own rigs, which worked until Sava Centar’s owners committed to a major renovation of the Blue Hall with the ambition of competing seriously for the large-scale concerts and shows that had been bypassing Belgrade for more technically equipped arenas. A permanent professional audio system was not in the original renovation brief. By the time the project was properly under way, it was clear it needed to be.

Sava Centar engaged two companies to design and deliver the installation: L-Acoustics Certified Provider Dicroic, who led the project, working alongside acoustic consultancy Acoustic Design, who’s principal Nemanja Stanojevic had already been in dialogue with the venue’s investors at an early stage.

The defining constraint was the cinema screen. It spans the full stage width and the investor’s position was non-negotiable: the sound system could not obstruct it. That ruled out a conventional centre-hung arrangement and forced the main left and right hangs to be positioned well apart - a span that immediately created a coverage challenge across the width of the audience area, and one that a centre-fill cluster would need to address.

“The main challenge was that the installation needed to cater equally to the many different events the Blue Hall hosts”, explains Sava Centar AV manager Ivan Brusic. “It was important to ensure that the sound system did not visually compromise the hall’s cinema screen. That constraint influenced every decision that followed.”

Beyond the screen, the hall’s original fly tower and rigging infrastructure, which were never intended for large-format loudspeaker systems, presented further challenges. Placement of the central subwoofer cluster was subject to constant negotiation with the room’s architecture. Every position was a compromise, and the design process had to anticipate each one before a single cabinet was flown.

“We presented and convinced the investor of the advantages of the L-Acoustics L2 system, that it could satisfy all types of events in the hall, and that the return on investment through rental income would be realised within two years”, shares Marko Fio, Dicroic CEO. With Dicroic leading the negotiating process and L-Acoustics application engineer Willi Klein embedded in the project from the start, the team built a full model of the room in L-Acoustics Soundvision before committing to any rigging position.

The geometry was complex: the mains had to clear the screen; the KS28 subwoofer cluster had to fit within a fly tower not designed to house it; and the centre-fill position had to bridge the coverage gap between the widely-spaced main hangs. Soundvision allowed the team to test every option and quantify every compromise before installation began. The physical installation was completed in four to five days, with Dicroic handling all rigging and preparation to allow Klein to proceed directly to system calibration.

The main system pairs two hangs of two L2 over one L2D per side, positioned to provide primary coverage across the full audience area while clearing the cinema screen entirely. Twelve KS28 are flown centrally above the stage. A centre-fill cluster of three A15 Focus and one A15 Wide addresses coverage across the central audience zone, complementing the mains. Eight X8 deployed as front-fills deliver consistent level and intelligibility for audience members in the front rows.

System drive and processing is handled by six LA7.16i and four LA12X amplified controllers, with a single LA4X completing the amplification. A P1 processor manages the Milan-AVB network connecting all amplified controllers, with a secondary AVB path and AES67 tertiary backup - a layered redundancy architecture well suited to a venue operating across a dense and varied event calendar. Six LS10 network switches complete the signal distribution infrastructure.

With the installation complete and the system calibrated, the Blue Hall now operates with a permanent audio infrastructure that removes the logistical overhead that a hired rig entails for every event. “The Blue Hall is now one of the two leading large-format venues in Serbia”, concludes Fio.

(Photos: L-Acoustics)

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