Belgian train station sees biggest Active Audio deployment

The largest deployment of Active Audio StepArray SA180S column loudspeakers has been installed at Leuven railway station, in Belgium, as part of a new sound system.

Belgian railways operator Infrabel asked TVV Sound to overhaul the station’s 20-year-old PA system, to make announcements more intelligible.

The main challenges for Active Audio and system integrator TVV Sound were the complex acoustic environment created by the station’s mix of architectural styles, and restrictions on how the loudspeakers could be installed.

Arbane Groupe’s marketing director, Eric Grandmougin, who defined the system’s specifications after modelling the acoustics of the station, says the design of the SA180S – which provides a 15m SPL of 97dB – allowed his team to experiment with installing the loudspeakers horizontally, so they could work around the restrictions inherent in the space.
 
“This new way of using Active Audio column loudspeakers was first tested and validated internally, before being integrated into an electro-acoustic model of the station to predict the system’s overall performance,” he says.

“The results obtained were in line with the operator’s requirements, and validation listening sessions were carried out in Belgium at our distributor, TVV Sound. This project enabled us to validate the performance of the SA108S in a horizontal position, as well as the homogeneity of the directivity.”
 
TVV Sound chief executive Edo Dijkstra says: “Most of Leuven station’s platforms are covered by a large, high-arched canopy, while some are covered by a low, flat roof. The renovation included the replacement of the existing loudspeakers under these canopies. Architecturally, nothing was allowed to change the lay-out of the existing loudspeakers.”
 
The StepArray columns were coupled together in 32 pairs, helping TVV Sound to work around the space constraints while still being able to adjust the speakers’ directivity, as they needed to deliver clear announcements and ambient background music.
 
Dijkstra says the Digital and Geometric Radiation Control steering technology – which reduces the number of amplifiers necessary to drive the system – built into the speakers was key to combatting the acoustic reflections produced by the station’s concrete and glass structure. 
 
The installation makes use of the audio-over-IP protocol Dante – a set-up made possible by the choice of 32 Powersoft Quattrocanali 1204 DSP+D amplifiers to power the 64 StepArray speakers. 
  
Dijkstra says: “A station like Leuven – a unique building with complex acoustics – requires a more complex sound system to achieve the required quality. As is clear from the result, StepArray, with its versatility and unique DGRC technology, is that sound system.”

“Active Audio was the only company whose products can guarantee the horizontal beam steering we needed for the Leuven project.”

Tom De Bie, a project leader at Infrabel, says: “The clarity of the audio provided to travellers has improved considerably.”