Tallinn City Theatre recently upgraded its sound system to provide all public spaces with ambient soundscapes and even coverage, without disrupting the theatre’s bold visual appeal. For this, the theatre selected a Genelec Smart IP solution to deliver the necessary combination of exceptional sound quality at low levels and sleek aesthetic design.
Tallinn’s Old Town – Vanalinn – is a UNESCO World Heritage site, recognised for its well-preserved medieval landscape and cultural relevance, therefore making the Lai Street restoration project one of the rarest and most historically significant theatre upgrades in all of Europe. “While this is excellent for the theatre, it placed certain limitations on the audio system,” says Karl Erik Laas, Tallinn City Theatre’s Senior Sound Technician. “We needed a high-fidelity, full-bodied loudspeaker solution that evenly covers the public spaces and would allow us to digitally adjust the matrix. Due to the historic nature of the venue, we also had the challenge of coordinating the appearance of the loudspeakers with the interior architecture.”
Gentle background music, as well as voice announcements, needed to fill public spaces such as the lobby, dining and bar areas, common rooms, and some smaller theatre auditoriums. “It has already been decided that the sound system for the theatre halls would run on a Dante network, so it made sense for the common areas to follow the same protocol,” Laas explained. “The result was a high-quality solution consisting of over 100 Genelec loudspeakers.”
The theatre’s technical team already had a pair of Genelec loudspeakers installed in their studio, so they were familiar with the high-performance sound and vocal intelligibility of Genelec equipment. Regional distributor, msonic Baltic OÜ, supplied a total of 120 Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers to be deployed throughout the theatre complex. “Genelec’s Smart IP series is known for its exceptional audio quality, attractive form factor, and installation flexibility,” Laas continues. “We knew Smart IP would be the right fit to meet all of the theatre’s requirements.”
A system was designed in collaboration with theatre, maintenance and design specialists Optimus Systems AS, and the Genelec factory to guarantee the most suitable solution for the multi-venue complex. “A combination of forty-four 4430 and seventy-six 4420 Smart IP loudspeakers was installed by Optimus Systems AS throughout the audience areas, making up twenty-four distinct zones of audio,” Laas reveals. “The new system was expertly planned, with the positioning of the loudspeakers ensuring wide directivity and even coverage, with absolutely no dead spots.”
Mounted on walls or flown from the ceiling, the standard RAL black loudspeakers stand out from the wood-panelled, brickwork, and white painted walls, while the elegant oval form factor and discreet single-CAT-cable installation of the Smart IP series ensures they blend harmoniously with the theatre’s historic setting.
“Using Genelec’s Smart IP Manager software, we were able to route, tune, and manage the loudspeakers with ease, eliminating many common setup difficulties,” adds Laas. “For networking and power in the common areas, we used Netgear M-4250 switches, while the entire system was run over Dante. Currently, a temporary system is in place to take care of processing and control as we wait for a permanent system to be chosen and implemented.”
“We’ve received high praise from audiences and production crew since installing the Genelec system,” confessed Laas. “The Smart IP loudspeakers deliver superior quality, intelligibility, and optimal coverage – everything that we were looking for from a new audio solution.”
“Bringing a futureproof audio environment to a historically protected venue like Tallinn City Theatre is really about understanding the building, respecting its history and finding solutions that integrate naturally without drawing too much attention,” added Jürgen Urbanik, Marketing and Business Development Manager at msonic Baltic OÜ.
“The Genelec Smart IP solution makes a lot of sense in spaces where architecture and cultural identity need to coexist and enhance the visitor experience by combining sonic precision, networked flexibility and a discrete visual presence. Projects like Tallinn City Theatre show how thoughtfully implemented audio can quietly enhance historic spaces, helping them function in a modern, connected production environment while preserving everything that makes them special.”
