STOCKHOLM CITY THEATRE - STORA SCENEN
Located in the heart of Stockholm at Sergels torg, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern is one of Northern Europe’s premier cultural landmarks and a celebrated symbol of Swedish modernism. As a bustling hub for theatre, dance, music, and the arts, the venue requires cutting-edge technology to support its diverse and demanding artistic vision. To keep pace with these evolving creative standards, the theatre recently undertook a comprehensive technological modernisation, culminating in the installation of a next-generation immersive sound system: Amadeus ART Immersive.
In a poetic alignment of technology and art, the very first production to debut on the newly upgraded stage is Sunil Munshi’s spectacular musical costume drama production of Amadeus, a timeless tale of musical genius, rivalry, and passion. There could truly be no better way to celebrate this milestone than having Amadeus doing Amadeus.
Inside The Installation
With a capacity of 714 visitors, two deep balconies, and four distinct loges, the venue required a highly tailored approach to ensure precise localisation and a next-level spatial audio experience across all acoustic areas. Following extensive testing against various industry-standard alternative immersive systems, Amadeus Immersive Sound was proven to be the only solution capable of fully delivering on all of the venue's strict acoustic and complex theatrical demands.
Driven by our latest immersive sound module, ART::IP, and our ART::Hub2 hardware, it handles 114 loudspeakers throughout the venue. The setup is divided into two core environments: performer and spatial systems. Performer Systems focus on sound sources physically tied to the stage, such as live vocalists or acoustic instruments, ensuring that every audience member localises the sound precisely at the performer’s physical position. Spatial Systems manage independent sound objects designed to move freely through the venue's three-dimensional space, enveloping the audience in immersive, moving atmospheric soundscapes.
For Stora Scenen we implemented the following:
7 Spatial Systems: speakersdelivering immersive coverage to the main parterre, 1st & 2nd balconies and first rows.
25 Performer Systems: consisting of main PA, front fills, portal fills, over-balcony fills, lower loges, and first-balcony loges speaker systems.
Advanced Feature: Introducing the Downmix Processor
A core highlight of this project is the integration of the Downmix Processor, ART::Director’s latest feature. At Stora Scenen, this system is essential for bridging the gap between pre-production, the live auditorium and external media. It serves as a powerful pre-production tool for sound designers to create and preview intricate 3D soundscapes in their own setups, while simultaneously functioning as a downmix live engine for broadcast feeds, ensuring remote audiences experience an equally well-balanced mix.
The processor allows engineers to run multiple standard formats (Stereo, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos) or fully custom downmixes simultaneously in parallel. Key features include adjustable size multipliers to scale the mix width based on target speaker resolutions, dedicated fade and speaker-switching controls for both spatial and performer systems, and interactive 3D placement within the venue’s virtual space, making it a highly adaptable asset for the theatre's versatile production schedule.
Hardware & Integration
A key focus of this project was the sustainable integration of existing house equipment with new systems. We successfully combined the theatre's existing Canton, ATC and Genelec loudspeakers with a new L-Acoustics package, including L2s with KS21i for the Main PA, X4i front fills and Syva portal speaker.
The primary engineering challenge lay in ensuring total acoustic coherence. Merging legacy and new components required meticulous alignment to ensure sound objects move flawlessly across the theatre with precise localisation, regardless of where audience members are seated. Following the installation and calibration, we conducted comprehensive on-site training for the theatre's resident sound engineers and sound designers
Acknowledgements
This project was a highly successful collaborative effort, and we would like to thank everyone involved:
The team at Winther Sound Solutions: Mattias Winther, Pontus Svensson, and Mårten Ihre, for their exceptional work on the initial project phase, system tuning, and EASE modelling.
The Kulturhuset Stadsteatern team for having us on board in this project, and welcoming us into their venue.
Our colleagues, Volker Werner and Matteo Galotti, for their outstanding work on the final system calibration.
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