The state-owned Kino Centrum, in the large Slovakian town of Michalovce, has recently undergone a major refurbishment. Following the foyer came the technical control areas and main screening room--which now features a JBL cinema system, driven by Crown mission-specific cinema amplifiers.
The City's Department of Culture brought in JBL distributor AudioMaster sro, which represents all Harman Pro brands in the Slovak and Czech Republics.
Having removed the old system, AudioMaster specified a conventional L/C/R set up behind the screen, using JBL's ScreenArray® series cinema loudspeakers. This comprised three 3722N enclosures complemented by 4645C 18-inch high-power subwoofers, mounted close to the floor.
Providing the balcony area surround sound are quantities of 2-way JBL 8320 cinema surround speakers, with JBL 8100 Series ceiling speakers for under-balcony and top of balcony infill, supported by further surface-mount JBL Control 28's, positioned left and right at the top of the balcony.
In the equipment rack the cinema specialists then specified five Crown DSi 1000 cinema amps and an XLS202D—as well as a Dolby CP650 processor.
Two of the DSi 1000's are used for the screen channels, a further DSi 1000 is run in bridge mode for the Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel, while others are assigned to various left, right and rear channels of the JBL 8320's and Control 28's. The XLS202D powers the JBL 8100 back channels (under- and top-balcony) and finally a Crown DSi-8M handles the projection room monitoring.
AudioMaster has built a reputation for installing cinema systems, from single-screen one-offs to complete multiplex chain rollouts; here the company worked closely alongside KVEL v.o.s., which installed and commissioned the 35mm Meopta Meo5XB projectors.
The conversion at Michalovce is not to full digital but an upgrade to stereo analog, with a Dolby digital head. As a result, it now supports Dolby SR, Dolby Digital and also Dolby Digital Surround EX formats.
Said AudioMaster's project manager, Michal Smolárik, “Aside from JBL's dedicated ScreenArray system, using the 8100 Series and Crown XLS202 provided an economic solution, because in the original installation no provision had been made for sound at balcony and under balcony level. This has made a vast improvement and the client is delighted.”
For more information on AudioMaster, please visit www.audiomaster.cz