ESS Audio delivers multifaceted AV that can meet today’s needs and future requirements at the Museum of Polish History. Reece Webb reports.
The Museum of Polish History is a cultural beacon located in the very heart of Warsaw, serving both as a museum and a national cultural institute. With a focus on Polish traditions of freedom and independence, the museum positions itself not just as a place of learning and remembrance, but also as a space that is home to concerts, conferences, lectures, and more.
Undergoing an overhaul of its auditoriums and meeting spaces, the Museum of Polish History required an AV system that fit the fabled ‘one-size-fits-all’ requirement to cater for spoken word lectures, classical orchestras in concerts, and meetings in its modern conference spaces.
To achieve this, the museum required a system that could meet its existing needs but also be ready for changing requirements in the future. To this end, the museum brought ESS Audio on board to specify and deliver a truly futureproofed system. These spaces were created from the ground up, housed within a brand-new purpose-built building at the museum to meet this cultural hub’s growing needs.
Adam Pieron, technical sales manager, ESS Audio, explains: “We have a long history of deploying very big projects, such as the National Forum of Music or Museum of the Second World War. We were the ideal partner for this project, as we were one of the first companies that the general contractor thought of for this project.”
The museum required two, brand-new auditoriums and meeting halls, with a large, grand hall, with a smaller ‘cinema hall’ auditorium that follows a similar layout to the main auditorium. Additionally, ESS Audio also outfitted four conference rooms.
Wojciech Kopytek, manager, ESS Audio, explains: “The museum had an idea to have two auditoriums, a large one and a small one, as well as a few smaller rooms for different purposes. They wanted the main hall to be the greatest in the building; every space is important, but the main hall was to be spectacular.”
“Both of the auditoriums have the capability to screen movies with a 7.1 system. The main hall is designed for concerts, meetings, and more. The customer wanted multifunctional spaces and four conference rooms, that was the key in creating this space,” adds Maciej Baranski, sound engineer, ESS Audio.
Go big or go home
Starting in the main auditorium, ESS Audio delivered a truly catch-all system including audio, control, and lighting. Starting with an audio system that caters to live musicians, in-person speakers, and a cinema system, ESS Audio went the extra mile to deliver a system that allows the museum to screen films and other content without compromising on any aspect of the experience in any of its applications. This required an extensive deployment of loudspeakers throughout the space that could meet the venue’s needs.
ESS Audio selected a range of JBL loudspeakers as part of the main system, creating an immersive sound system and ScreenArray 5732 professional loudspeakers to create the cinema audio system. The main PA sound system consists of JBL VTX series loudspeakers and subwoofers, supported by Crown amplifiers and BSS signal processing units.
“We deployed an active acoustic system, this was requested by the client from the beginning, but it was our idea to add the immersive system,” explains Baranski. “We used a combination of BSS and Lexicon to provide active acoustic effects. This is something that is not too common in the industry, but it works very well. We also used eight DPA microphones and Lexicon processors in surround mode. Harman doesn’t have an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution for active acoustics, so we designed that ourselves for two auditoriums, using Harman devices.
At the heart of the system is an immersive audio system in both halls, delivered by Ti-Max SoundHub spatial audio and show control system, using a surround sound system processor and effects processor to create immersive sound in both halls.
“The key in the main auditorium was to deliver a system which could be scaled for every event that they want to hold in the venue. We provided a PA system which could be played in whatever setup you want – from LCR to immersive, or just use the active acoustic systems. These systems can also be combined; any sound engineer can do whatever they want in this auditorium.”
The main hall features more than 60 ceiling speakers, with JBL CBT series speakers on the left and right walls. SCS speakers are placed at the back of the auditorium on two levels, as well as on the balcony.
The auditoriums presented a unique acoustical challenge for ESS Audio, factoring in the difficulties of the space’s design to deliver a one-size-fits-all system. Baranski explains: “This space has a long reverberation time, which isn’t great for amplified, high SPL concerts, but the customer wanted a range of classical concerts, famous Polish stars that required a lot of SPL. That was the main challenge for us.
“When you deploy the active acoustics, you expect that the hall will have a long reverberation time. In this case, the system was designed with long reverberation time in mind, as you cannot make it shorter, it’s not physically possible. The main hall was used for a movie screening, classical concert, and a conference all within the same week, so every system has to work here.”
ESS Audio also supplied Barco SP4K-55 cinema projectors, supported by Dolby CP950 cinema processors. The space is completely integrated with control and distribution systems from AMX as Pieron explains: “We deployed an AMX DGX HDBaseT matrix. It’s not common to use a 64x64 matrix when we have AVoIP, but the client requested that we deploy an HDBaseT system which is more point-to-point, reliable, and uncompressed. If we’re using the cinema system, it’s something that we can deliver uncompressed by using DGX. We connected the entire venue with this matrix.
“We also have an AMX control system which can be controlled via touchpanels or via iPads,” explains Baranski. “Everything can be controlled via this system, except for the mechanical components, which are not certified. This is not just the audio part, but a modern, integrated AV control system. The large auditorium also has the option to work on ‘easy mode’ with AMX. Microphones are automatically mixed, and everything works automatically. We paired the BSS with the wireless microphone signals, so that a user can use it just as easily as in the conferencing rooms.”
The setup in the main hall is supported by three Digico Quantum desks, used as front of house and for monitoring. The smaller cinema hall space uses Yamaha. Baranski says: “When you have more complex events, you should use the Digico mixing console, but if you’re just hosting a lecture, easy mode is a great way to just dive right in.”
Meet with confidence
The Museum of Polish History is also equipped with four, near identical conference rooms, equipped with Shure wireless microphones for spoken word content, and NEC PV710UL-B laser projectors.
Baranski clarifies: “These spaces are treated as conference rooms, featuring the same specifications. The rooms have different speakers – in some rooms we use ceiling speakers, however in most rooms we use CBT surface wall-mounted speakers, as well as pendant speakers for spoken word. This includes a Dante network which allows us to work with an in-room mixing desk. There’s also BSS sound processing in every single room.
“The main point of the system was to make it easy for the user, so we delivered training for the technical staff. Each conference room is easy to use and were supplied with presets [for the control system] making it easy to turn kit on and off, volume up and down and so on.” ESS Audio spent two years working on this project, from the design page to full delivery on site, overcoming supply chain issues posed by logistical strains post-Covid. Reflecting on the project, ESS Audio went above and beyond to deliver a project of remarkable complexity, blending complex audio offerings into a one-size-fits-all solution.
Pieron says: “It’s a very complex project; the integration itself was a point of pride for us, as it was hard to integrate every system. We had guys from our audio team, video, lighting, and control. From a video point of view, it was simpler to set up, but it is uncommon to use such big matrixes such as 64x64. From the audio point of view, active acoustics and the immersive sound is something that we are really proud of, as there are not that many venues in Poland that have such complex and impressive audio systems.
“It was such a complex project, that it was easy to be nervous and potentially have troubles with other contractors, but we were able to avoid that. We communicated well and worked with each other. It’s a team effort, and ESS Audio is proud of all of its on-site workers and office staff that made this project happen.”
Kit list
Audio
BSS BLU-160 and BLU-120 networked audio systems
Crown Audio I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers, DCi 8|600D amplifiers, DCi 4|600N amplifiers,
Dolby CP950 cinema processor
DPA 2006C omnidirectional microphones, 2011C omnidirectional microphones
JBL VTX A8 loudspeakers, A8 AF, VTX B18 subwoofers, AM 7215/64 loudspeakers, CBT1000 loudspeakers, VTX A6 loudspeakers, ScreenArray 5732 professional loudspeakers, CBT70J-1 loudspeakers
Shure ULXD4Q digital receiver, antenna distribution system, KSM141/SL Stereo instrument microphones
Sonance PS-C83RT in-ceiling loudspeakers
TiMax SoundHub2 spatialisation system
Video
Barco SP4K-55 cinema projectors
NEC PV710UL-B laser projectors, NP41ZL zoom lens
Samsung LS27A800 4K monitors, QH43B displays
Control
AMX DX-RX control system, MT-1002 touchpanels
Apple iPad 10th gen
MA Lighting grandMA3 compact XT lighting consoles
Netgear M4250 series managed network switches, WAX620 wireless access point,
Yamaha CL series consoles, Rio 3224D2 Dante interface