In 2005, the OVAL – designed by renowned Roman architect Massimiliano Fuksas – opened its doors in the EUROPARK shopping center in Salzburg. The center, including its arts and culture stage, is operated by SES Spar European Shopping Centers, Austria’s leading shopping mall developer. With a seating capacity of 227, the OVAL has established itself as a permanent fixture in Salzburg’s event calendar, hosting cultural highlights ranging from music and theatre to cabaret and cinema.

Since July 2020, the OVAL has featured an additional technical innovation: the L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound Technology by L-Acoustics.

How the OVAL transitioned to L-ISA:

From the very beginning, the venue’s unique architecture – a steep atrium-style tiered seating arrangement, a 13-meter-wide stage, and a mere 15 meters between stage and control room – posed major challenges for conventional L-C-R sound systems.

“With L-ISA, we didn’t just replace the existing system — we created an entirely new immersive listening experience for every single seat,”
explains Rupert Pichler, Managing Director of Pansound and project manager for the L-ISA installation at the OVAL.

The sound design by Martin Rode, Head of Application Install D-A-CH, features a five-part setup with the following components:

Scene system:
Five arrays, each consisting of 3× A10 Wide, flown above the stage across the full stage width.

Subwoofer scene system:
Two hangs, each with 3× KS21, flown behind the scene system.
Each hang is configured as a horizontally arranged cardioid array, and the two together form an endfire array.

Nearfield:
5× 5XT laid flat along the front edge of the stage.

Side/rear surround:
3× X8 surround speakers on each side, plus two additional X8 mounted on the rear wall.

Ceiling surround:
5× 5XT used as overhead surround speakers mounted on the ceiling.

All L-ISA loudspeakers are powered by LA4X controller amplifiers. The L-Acoustics systems were supplied by Austrian L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor Signal Sound & Light Distribution.

Even before the final decision was made in favor of L-ISA, the project team had already been considering immersive sound reinforcement.

“The central requirement from the EUROPARK management was to optimize sound quality,”
explains Rupert Pichler. To fully understand the capabilities of the L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology, both Pichler and Christoph Andexlinger, EUROPARK Managing Director and Head of Center Management at operator SES, attended a detailed demonstration at the L-Acoustics L-ISA headquarters in Highgate, London.

The ultimate decision to go with L-ISA was made largely due to the flexibility of the technology in combination with the audio quality of the L-Acoustics systems.

“You hear what you see – and from every seat.”

The foundation for the investment in the new sound system was laid in London.

“When Rupert Pichler first told me about L-ISA and described this completely new approach to sound, I couldn’t imagine it was possible. So we traveled to London to get to the bottom of this ‘mystery’ and experience it live. It was breathtaking – I had never heard music from speakers in such clarity before.”

Rupert Pichler adds:

“The new spatial orientation enabled by L-ISA is outstanding. You hear what you see – and that applies to every seat in the venue. L-ISA has brought an entirely new level of sound quality to the OVAL.”

“EUROPARK is considered the most successful shopping mall in Austria. With the opening of the OVAL in 2005, we aimed to significantly expand the offering for our visitors – with arts and culture,”
says Christoph Andexlinger.
“Initially, this was met with skepticism from artists and their agencies. But we weren’t aiming for some artistic fig leaf inside a shopping mall – we wanted a fully programmed, year-round stage with its own identity. A venue for jazz and world music on the one hand, and arthouse cinema and cabaret on the other. Our goal was to curate a selection that would make both art lovers and newcomers feel welcome and inspired. Our artistic director, Margret Stronegger, has curated the program with great care from the very beginning – and her tremendous success speaks for itself.”