The Cinecittà complex in Nuremberg: the largest Christie Vive Audio installation in the world

With a total of 64 speakers, Cinemagnum's impressive Vive Audio installation deploys the full range of Christie LA5 stage, surround and ceiling loudspeakers (LA5, LA5S, LA5C), and the S215 and S218 subwoofer models.

The first of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the ideal occasion to premiere at the Cinemagnum, the former Cinecittà IMAX cinema in Nuremberg (Germany), the Vive Audio system of Christie. Today the room enjoys the largest Vive Audio installation in the world.

Imposing in terms of its dimensions, the Cinemagnum is located under the old historic center of Nuremberg. It is the largest of the 22 cinemas that make up the Cinecittà multiplex complex. The Cinemagnum hall measures 31 meters high, 25 meters wide and 35 meters long, houses a 30-ton dome and, to top it off, has a screen that, with its 600 m², is the largest in Germany.

An upgrade process was completed in December 2015, with the installation of Dolby Atmos in combination with a wide range of Christie Vive Audio speakers and amplifiers. The planning, supplies and installation of the new audio system were the work of Christie partner Ecco Cine Supply and Services (Ecco), a company based in Hilden, Düsseldorf.

Compared to the standard speakers common until today in movie theaters, those of the Vive Audio system use ribbon driver technology, which guarantees homogeneous and harmonious audio coverage throughout the room. The system is designed to quadruple the optimal listening area achieved by conventional audio systems based on compression drivers. Everything that is said or sounds on the screen (conversations, effects, music or alternative content) reaches the viewer with greater naturalness and realism, thereby reinforcing their sound experience.

With a total of 64 speakers, Cinemagnum's impressive Vive Audio installation deploys the full range of Christie LA5 stage, surround and ceiling loudspeakers (LA5, LA5S, LA5C), and the S215 and S218 subwoofer models.

Chris Connett, EMEA Market Development Director for Christie Vive Audio, explains that "our 6" Ribbon Driver technology, used in all LA5 series speakers, guarantees optimal coverage throughout the room, which means the possibility of adapting the acoustic color to perfection. The sound is impeccable in each of the 524 seats. In terms of sound, there is no one seat better than another.

In addition to the LA5 speakers, eleven CDA5 amplifiers were used, each with 5,000 watts, which, in the case of the CDA7.5 amplifiers, reach 7,500 watts. Wolfgang Burkhardt, Project Manager at Ecco and responsible for planning and installation, exclaims: “Adding the eleven CDA5 amplifiers and the twenty-one CDA7.5 amplifiers gives a total of 227,500 watts!”

Specifying the design, a front system has been created consisting of all LA5 speakers plus two S215 subwoofers. The combination is repeated five times: on the left, center-left, center, center-right and right channels. Each suspended LA5 surround speaker corresponds to a second LA5S surround speaker, also suspended. Six LA5C loudspeakers were installed to carry sound to the dome roof. The other LA5S speakers are the five used for surround on the left side, another five used for surround on the right, and another five used for surround on the rear. The remaining eight S215 subwoofers are used as a bass management system in the rear area of ​​the auditorium, resulting in four subzones, with two S215 subwoofers each. Finally, the 16 S218 series subwoofers serve the LFE channel.

Overcoming obstacles

"During the design process, the dimensions and volume of the auditorium forced us to overcome a large number of obstacles. One was that the ceiling dome had to maintain its ability to move without affecting the excellent coverage of our linear matrices, which guarantees that the sound reaches all seats with optimal quality. Achieving this represented a challenge, even for me, who has been working in film sound for sixteen years," explains Connet.

For the installation technicians who worked on the ground, the task was not easy either: the surround speakers had to be installed suspended in the ceiling dome, which reaches, at its maximum, 25 meters, something that, as Burkhardt argues, “was only possible by resorting to alpine climbing methods.” The front speakers were mounted 15 meters high, and the sixteen S218 subwoofers that would serve the LFE channel had to be installed on a 5.20 meter high platform located behind the screen.

All of these difficulties were compounded by the need to dismantle the old sound system and mount the new one in a recessed screen. “Given the gigantic size of the screen, at 29 x 18 meters, the narrowest point behind it was only 1.20 meters,” says Burkhardt.

Thomas Rüttgers, CEO of ECCO Cine Supply and Services, acknowledges that they are very pleased to "participate in a reference project like this. Christie's Vive Audio system enhances the atmosphere of this unique cinema and reinforces, again and again, the individual experience of each spectator."

With the new team in place for The Force Awakens, Wolfram Weber, owner and director of Cinecittà, enthuses: “Our goal is to always offer the viewer something special, and that means showing first-class content with the highest technological level.”

The premiere of the audio installation, which coincided with the blockbuster of Star Wars, was a total success, something confirmed by Benjamin Dauhrer, Chief Technician of Cinecittà: "The renovation was an enormous benefit for the Cinemagnum, which was placed at the head of the screens that projected Star Wars at that time. Tickets were sold out even at the matinees."

Wolfram Weber concludes by stating that "the cinema has had to reinvent itself again and again to compete with the numerous entertainment alternatives that exist today. With the combination of Vive Audio and Dolby Atmos and the new luminosity of dual 3D projection, which will soon be upgraded to quad projection, the public enjoys the film in a way they could never enjoy it at home, something that only the movie theater is in a position to offer."

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