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REGIONAL ROUND-UP
BOULEVARD RIYADH CITY PUTS FAITH IN D&B AUDIOTECHNIK RIYADH’S CULTURAL HUB GETS STATE-OF-THE-ART V-SERIES SOUND SYSTEMS, SUPPLIED BY 7HERTZ.
Built by local Saudi companies, Boulevard Riyadh City covers some 900,000 sq m and contains nine areas, each with its own set of events. Each area contains luxurious restaurants, cafés, upmarket boutiques, gardens, games centres and more. Special features include the largest cinema in the Kingdom, an electric car circuit, a skating rink and four theatres for concerts and shows. In keeping with the ambitious nature of this giant complex, each theatre is fully equipped with a state-of-the-art d&b audiotechnik V-Series sound system, supplied by 7Hertz. Events management company Sela designed and specified the systems destined for the new theatres and approached 7Hertz to deliver on the brief. “Our relationship with Sela goes back a long way,” commented 7Hertz Managing Partner, Chadi Masri. “We’ve known the Technical Director, Hicham Bitar, and the Head of Audio, Samer Atallah, for some time and have built a relationship of trust over the years. They know
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that we always do our best for our customers. When this project came along, they had already more or less made up their minds that it would be d&b, so naturally we were their first choice.” Technical Director, Hicham Bitar explained that having used d&b on many different events worldwide and visited the company headquarters in Germany for seminars and training, they were already very familiar with the brand. “We required a solution that covered all the bases: extremely high quality, modern, flexible enough to handle all types of performance and rider friendly. During the Season – and even beyond now that the Boulevard Riyadh City is a permanent structure – we have different artists coming in with a different show every week, so it was imperative for us to have systems that we are proud to present to any engineer and that all engineers are happy to use. d&b was a very easy choice!” Head of audio, Samer Atallah, concurred. “When considering the limitations for designing
an indoor sound system for a theatre, there are two points to keep in mind; first, directivity of sound, and second, homogenous sound across the venue. d&b leads the industry in terms of sound directivity. This is a key issue for the audience since we are mainly engaged in theatrical plays. People need to understand every word to live the experience.” Sela decided on d&b V-Series line array systems throughout due to their high performance capabilities and versatility. The two largest theatres (Bakr Al Shaddi and Mohammad Al Ali) range in capacity from 600 to 900 seats and sport L/R hangs of 10 V8 and two V12 per side supported by a pair of centrally flown large format SL-SUB cardioid subwoofers. Four T10s and two Y7Ps act as front fills and side fills respectively, and four M4 stage monitors complete the setup. The two smaller theatres (Al Andaleeb and Kawkab Al Sharq) are set up in cabaret style with guests seated at tables for an integrated dining and entertainment
