USA - The teams at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hawaii and the Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium in Canada are doing their part to seek out discoveries every day. Recently, both planetariums went through retrofits to improve the facilities and the guest experience, and the teams turned to amplifiers from LEA Professional to provide the audio.
Both planetarium teams contacted George Barnett, co-founder and technical director of SSIA Technologies and their long-term technical provider, to help them improve their audio systems. The planetariums wanted a more reliable and robust system that could immerse their guests in the storytelling of the vastness of space.
“LEA won our hearts over with their first amplifiers,” said Barnett. “We just loved the engineering – it was fantastic. It had good power, a small chassis, lots of features, and a very clean design.”
ʻImiloa’s 120-seat planetarium features a full-dome video projection system that assists in the sharing of Hawaiian wayfinding and other sciences under the night sky. Recently, NASA funded a $720,000 upgrade for the planetarium, including a 10K-resolution system using ten laser-illuminated projectors, superior graphic performance, and new features to greatly enhance user experience and the centre’s science and wayfinding programmes. Part of the funding was used to upgrade the audio to match the new visuals.
The planetarium wanted to continue using the existing three-way loudspeakers. So, SSIA Technologies designed the system using a different amplifier to power the high, mid- and low-frequency drivers on each. One LEA Connect Series 168D eight-channel amplifier was used exclusively for the high-frequency drivers. In contrast, two Connect Series 704D amplifiers powered the mid-frequency drivers, and four Connect Series 1504D amplifiers powered the low-frequency drivers and four separate 18-inch subwoofers. All three amplifier models include 96 kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options.
At the Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium, SSIA Technologies installed two Connect Series 354D amplifiers to power the immersive audio experience. With 96 kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options, the IoT-enabled four-channel 354D provides 350W per channel, supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel, and features two Smart Power Bridge channels.
“Most of our planetarium systems are 5.1 or 7.1,” said Barnett. “The beauty of these amplifiers was that we were able to use five channels and then bridge one channel from each amplifier to drive subwoofers. So we get double the output, which is really nice.”
