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Installed Audio

Genelec brings Wake the Tiger Amazement Park immersive experience to life with sound

Bristol-based immersive art experience Wake The Tiger Amazement Park has called upon Genelec’s Smart IP installation speakers to bring its unique environment to life through sound.

From the creators of Boomtown Fair Festival, Wake The Tiger Amazement Park is an immersive art experience in consisting of 27 different creative environments including artwork, installations, narrative, soundscape, secret passageways and more.

Once through the portal, visitors are transported to the world of Meridia, described as ‘a world not too dissimilar to our own, where you’ll discover an abandoned factory, a time capsule of messages, theories and wild experiments’.

AF Live, an award-winning technical production company, took on the project and designed a bespoke sound system suited to its specific requirements.

Paul Rose, founder and director of AF Live, commented: “AF Live has managed Boomtown Fair’s technical production for over a decade. So, when we were approached by Wake The Tiger in Spring 2022, we were already onboard to help create a sound system that would bring their new interactive Amazement Park to life."

AF Live approached the team at Audiologic for support with the supply, whose business manager, Paul Simpson, Audiologic, added: “Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers were the obvious choice for this project, offering system designers, integrators and installers an easy, powerful and cost-effective solution for guaranteeing high-quality audio across entire installations, delivering unrivalled flexibility, cost-effectiveness and simplicity of installation.”

Genelec 4430A and the more compact 4420A Smart IP Installation Speakers were specified across the park. The 4420 and 4430 models have been designed to combine sound quality with single cable simplicity, and their onboard Smart IP technology provides scalable power, audio and loudspeaker configuration, supervision and calibration features via a standard CAT cable.

Graham MacVoy, co-founder and managing director of Wake The Tiger, explained: “Wake The Tiger is a permanent and inclusive attraction that focuses on creativity. For it to succeed, we needed a sound solution that captured visitors in every one of the unique spaces. Thanks to AF Live, and the Genelec technology supplied by Audiologic, our Amazement Park® is an all-around interactive experience with bespoke, mixed-reality soundscapes. The system continues to perform exceptionally, with loudspeakers that blend into the surroundings to not take away from the installations.”

Rose added: “Wake The Tiger was a first for AF Live and its Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) installation is both complex and unique. We required a system that was intelligent and reliable, and Genelec loudspeakers achieved both. We’ve worked with Paul Simpson and the Support Team at Audiologic for over two years. The expertise offered by Audiologic to AF Live during this project helped to ensure a seamless implementation and fostered long-lasting confidence in the Genelec product.”

The 4420 and 4430 are compatible with both Dante and AES67 audio streams and derive power via PoE and PoE+ Power-over-Ethernet formats. Both models feature a single rear panel CAT connector, allowing access to Genelec’s Smart IP Manager - a software tool that allows installers to configure an almost unlimited number of rooms, zones, loudspeakers and audio channels, and includes device discovery, a versatile room equalisation tool set, system organisation and status monitoring.

Greg Chapter, AF Live’s lead designer for the project, concluded: “The Dante system allowed us to effectively realise the sound design over the 27 different zones of the exhibit, allowing the freedom and control needed to engage the listener in an immersive experience. The onboard DSP processing available on the Genelec Smart IP series loudspeakers was extremely useful for Wake The Tiger’s complex and unique audio environment. We identified the Genelec Smart IP series as a market leader, for both its quality of sound and ease of use. The system has exceeded expectations, working flawlessly since the opening of the venue.”