Mike Tec Eventtechnik has installed a Genelec Smart IP audio system at Pitch, a 760-sq-m indoor crazy golf and hospitality venue in Oberhausen, Germany.
Created by Gastro Golf, Pitch combines an 18-hole crazy golf course on the ground floor with a bar and darts lounge above. The audio brief called for consistent coverage across the open-plan venue, with the ability to move from unobtrusive background music during the day to higher-output DJ sets in the evening.
Mike
Tec worked with Genelec’s German distributor Audio Pro to develop the system, installing 18 Smart IP loudspeakers across the two floors.
Seven Genelec 4436A pendant loudspeakers are flown above the golf course to provide the main coverage.
“Thanks to the wide dispersion of the pendant design, we were able to achieve consistent coverage
of the entire hall with just seven loudspeakers,” said Mike Terbeck, managing director of Mike Tec Eventtechnik.
Three Genelec 3440A Smart IP subwoofers are also flown over the golf area to provide low-frequency reinforcement and increase available headroom for evening use.
“During DJ sets, the subs truly come into their own, delivering real club-level
impact while still leaving guests free to hold a conversation,” said Terbeck.
A further eight 4430A wall-mounted loudspeakers cover the entrance, bar and darts lounge, extending the system across both levels of the venue.
Terbeck said: “The tonal character delivered by the 4430A loudspeakers is neutral and balanced, with the consistency to match
the pendant loudspeakers for a seamless sonic experience throughout.”
Smart IP’s PoE+ architecture was also central to the installation. Audio, power and control are carried over a single CAT cable, allowing Mike Tec to avoid separate loudspeaker amplification and reduce the amount of cabling required throughout the venue.
“With Smart IP, amplification is built
into each loudspeaker and power is delivered over the network, which makes installation, maintenance and system expansion much more straightforward,” said Terbeck.
“We also gained a high degree of flexibility for individual controls. If the audio concept ever moves from a unified soundscape towards more defined zones, this can be reconfigured through the
network with minimum adjustments to the physical installation.”
The loudspeaker system was also selected to fit within Pitch’s heavily designed interior, which incorporates floral elements referencing the building’s former use as a florist warehouse.
Sebastian Bayer, Project Manager at Mike Tec, said: “The minimal and clean design of the Genelec pendant speakers was, alongside
the outstanding audio quality, a decisive factor for a project like Pitch. The venue is so elaborately designed from a visual standpoint that it was important that the technical side would add to this rather than distract from it.”
The completed system allows Pitch to run a common soundscape throughout the venue during
normal operation while retaining the ability to adjust individual areas through the network if its zoning requirements change.
“The result is a natural and impactful, yet never overbearing, listening experience,” said Terbeck. “Music at Pitch is exactly what it should be – an essential part of the experience that never forces itself to the foreground.”