The superheroes of Marvel have arrived in South-east Asia, making their first stop at the newly-opened Marvel Experience in the Megabangna mall in Bangkok. The billion-baht interactive themed entertainment attraction has chosen NEXO line array and point-source loudspeakers to deliver high-energy audio accompaniment to the immersive hyper-reality, interactive and multimedia technology games, and virtual reality simulations.
Fuzion Far East is one of the principal suppliers to The Marvel Experience and its owners, Los Angeles-based Hero Ventures in partnership with Thailand-based Hero Experience. FFE has masterminded a large networked audio and paging system, running on Dante, to cover the nine zones inside the 10,000 sq.m. multi-dome complex, using a variety of NEXO loudspeakers and sub-bass cabinets to deliver the high-SPL audio and FX thrills required by Captain America, the Hulk, Black Panther and Iron Man Tony Stark. All programming, installation and tuning was overseen by the Fuzion design team.
FFE’s design team has favoured NEXO’s most compact models for the Marvel Experience, making extensive use of PS Series and ID Series point-source cabinets which are noted for their SPL output and quality yet small enough to hide inside the fabric of the venue.
The original brief from Hero Ventures was to replicate the system design used by the American Marvel Experience tour. “However, with our new design suggestions for the various exhibits, and Dante already in flow, we redesigned the whole system to work more efficiently for this installation,” explains Fuzion’s design team.
Making a great impression on visitors as they walk through the door is the first of two GEO M6 line array systems: another is deployed, together with NEXO’s 18” subwoofer, for the 4D experience in the Motion Ride. Throughout the Experience, models from NEXO’s classic PS Series of point-source cabinets, PS8s, PS10s and PS15s, have been paired with different sub-bass models from the LS Series, and, for some of the larger attractions, configured in impressive 7.1 systems.
“There are various zones in the Experience, but mainly we had to be ready for 7.1 surround sound, delivering in three different languages, English, Chinese and Thai. There are separate control rooms for amps and DSP, with each one networked to the main control room that runs everything. It was quite tricky to get this right: for example, there may be an English group of visitors right after a Chinese group, so we needed to make sure the tracks were timed correctly, allowing them to get the first party out of the room and change the audio tracks to the next language.”
According to Fuzion, the most complex part of the installation was the 7.1 surround sound rooms, needing multitrack audio and seemingly endless cabling. In Tony Stark’s Lab, the video and robotics are boosted by a surround sound system using NEXO PS10 full-range cabinets, LS600 subs and ID24 compact point-source. In the visually impressive Simularium, a substantial 7.1 system comprising NEXO PS15 full-range speakers is matched to eye-popping visuals projected onto the domed ceiling by a dozen 4K projectors.
“Because it was a new-build attraction, we had a lot more flexibility than usual to tailor the installation and get things right. We had the networking advantages of Dante, which is built into NEXO’s NXAMPs; that feature, together with the company’s versatile range of high-power loudspeaker products, made it an obvious choice to use NEXO to deliver the Marvel Experience Thailand.”
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