One of Serbia’s most technically challenging large-format venues has completed a major audio upgrade, with Belgrade’s Sava Centar installing a permanent L-Acoustics L2 sound system within its iconic Blue Hall auditorium.

Originally built in 1979 as part of New Belgrade’s modernist architectural expansion, the 4,000-seat Blue Hall has long been recognised as a demanding acoustic environment. Measuring approximately 50 metres wide by 45 metres deep, the venue combines large-scale dimensions with legacy theatrical infrastructure and a striking 20 x 11-metre cinema screen positioned centrally above the stage, the largest of its kind in the region.

For many years, the venue relied entirely on visiting touring sound systems. However, following extensive renovation works aimed at repositioning Sava Centar as a leading destination for major concerts, performances and productions, the venue owners identified the need for a permanent professional audio solution capable of supporting a broad range of event types.

Designing Around Architectural Constraints

The installation project was delivered by L-Acoustics Certified Provider Dicroic in collaboration with acoustic consultancy Acoustic Design. Due to the complexity of the venue, both integration expertise and detailed acoustic modelling were essential from the outset.

A key challenge centred around preserving sightlines to the venue’s enormous cinema screen. Traditional centre-hung loudspeaker configurations were ruled out, requiring the main left and right hangs to be positioned well apart, this span immediately created a coverage challenge across the width of the audience area, and one that a centre-fill cluster would need to address.

Further complications came from the hall’s original fly tower and rigging infrastructure, which had not been designed to accommodate modern large-format line array systems or centrally flown subwoofer clusters.

According to Sava Centar AV Manager Ivan Brusić, maintaining the visual integrity of the venue was a critical requirement throughout the project.

“It was important to ensure that the sound system did not visually compromise the hall’s cinema screen. That constraint influenced every decision that followed.”

Extensive Soundvision Modelling

Before installation began, the full venue geometry was modelled in L-Acoustics Soundvision software, allowing the project team to evaluate rigging positions, coverage patterns and system compromises in advance.

The final system design comprises:

• Main hangs of two L2 over one L2D per side
• Twelve centrally flown KS28 subwoofers
• A centre-fill cluster using three A15 Focus and one A15 Wide
• Eight X8 front-fill loudspeakers

Amplification and processing are handled via LA7.16i, LA12X and LA4X amplified controllers, supported by a Milan-AVB network architecture with AES67 redundancy.

The completed installation now provides Sava Centar with a permanent audio infrastructure capable of supporting orchestral performances, theatrical productions, cinema presentations and large-scale live music events without the need for daily touring system deployment.

Brusić commented:

“The main impact is the consistency of quality and performance. From a technical standpoint, we have minimised the time and effort needed to achieve results.”

“This project brought together a genuinely difficult room, precise system design and strong support from the L-Acoustics team, and the results speak for themselves.” Marko Fio, Dicroic CEO

Find out more here:

l-acoustics.com