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Renkus-Heinz Loudspeaker Solutions Ensure Clear Audio for Children’s Hospital

Published: January 13, 2022
This image is for decoration purposes and does not represent the actual children's hospital in Kansas City, Mo. Image source: Adobe Stock/olgavolodina.

Located in Kansas City, Mo., a local children’s hospital is home to a comprehensive pediatric medical center. The center integrates clinical care and medical education for patients from the ages of birth to 21. As part of the extensive teaching and research programs, the hospital built a new facility to foster innovative medical education.

Within the campus is a 350-seat, state-of-the-art, multi-use auditorium. The auditorium is used for a range of presentations, lectures, large video conferencing meetings and more.

In order to complement the space’s impressive design, the hospital worked with Coltrane Systems, to design and install the primary audio support system. Coltrane then brought in Renkus-Heinz to bring the sound solution for crisp, clear audio in the auditorium. Coltrane Systems is a St. Louis, Mo.-based technology systems integrator while Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based Renkus-Heinz is a professional loudspeaker company.

Choosing Renkus-Heinz

Renkus-Heinz provides digitally steerable loudspeaker solutions that allow integrators to put sound specifically on the audience. Further, the solutions come in multiple sizes, configurations and color options. This ensures it will fit and blend into any challenging space.

Closeup of table with mic stand. Across the table are empty auditorium seats.

The above is a stock image and does not reflect the specific space mentioned in the case study. It is to be used as an approximation of the space. Image courtesy of Renkus-Heinz

Mike Dolan, director of AV for Coltrane Systems, expands on the project. He says the benefits of Renkus-Heinz were critical for the hospital’s new space as there were very specific parameters set out by the architect that the AV system needed to follow.

“It’s an amazing space, and our primary challenge was keeping the ceiling and the entire space very clean,” Dolan adds. According to him, the team was free to design and propose as they saw fit. However, the ceiling was off limits and the audio had to be discreet as possible, almost invisible. “…Knowing we needed a high-caliber audio system with a small footprint, my first call was to our partners at Renkus-Heinz to help us understand the available options,” Dolan remarks.

Mounting the Loudspeakers

Renkus-Heinz Loudspeaker

Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Compact Series 48/3 speakers.

The auditorium features a 23.81-foot x 13.41-foot screen built flush into the front wall with almost no space on either side. Traditional speaker hangs were not an option. So, Dolan selected the Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Compact Series 48/3 speakers. These speakers could be wall-mounted inside the small but tall space available on each side of the screen.

Additionally, The ICC 48/3 offers additional solutions for integrators seeking flexible and powerful options in “medium-sized” installations. It also comes with an amplifier and DSP channel for each driver.

What’s more, the flexibility of Iconyx is now available in a package with a nearly 40% smaller footprint than the classic Iconyx.

Compact Space, Clear Audio

“The ICC 48/3 system fit the needs of the space perfectly,” Dolan says. “We now have thin columns on each edge of the screen that are 13 feet tall but only about 5.5 inches wide. They essentially disappear. The architects about fell out of their chairs because they didn’t think we could come back with something that sounded so good and fit the space so perfectly — it met exactly what they were trying to accomplish.”

The Iconyx Compact Series design is available in four variants, ranging from 3.3 feet to 13 feet. The longer columns provide quality low-frequency control, an important consideration for applications where reverberation times peak at low frequencies. The longer columns also project coherent, highly intelligible sound for longer distances. This negates the need for labor-intensive distributed systems in many applications.

Dolan thus praises the Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker solutions. “The architect and the customer — and us frankly — are all thrilled with the results,” he adds. “You don’t know the speakers are there unless you know what you’re looking for. The audio is smooth and dynamic and carries to the back of the room in exactly the fashion we expected it to. We couldn’t be happier. It sounds amazing. Renkus-Heinz delivers true, genuine sound, and the compact ICC system is an absolutely perfect solution for this application.”

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