We’re at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, where a quartet is on stage to kick off a special show. The headliner isn’t an orchestra, or band. It’s a global audio technology company based in the Conejo Valley, unveiling the new sound system that’s just been installed at the Bowl.
"One of the main characteristics of this system is the ability to project sound very uniformly across the audience. The Hollywood Bowl is obviously an iconic venue, but it's also a very challenging venue from a sound standpoint, because it's about 400 feet from the front row to the back row," said Laurent Vaissie, CEO of Westlake Village based
L-Acoustics. "This system is so accurate that we only lose about 10% of the sound from the front to the back."
He’s speaking with us from the edge of the stage. The new L-1 speaker system, along with its companion cardioid subwoofer CS1 series, are hanging in two columns from the Bowl’s bandshell. You can’t miss them. They are a bright white. The new systems are being used on worldwide tours by pop music stars Bruno Mars and Harry Styles, and now in a permanent installation at the Hollywood Bowl.
"We had to break all the rules essentially of what loudspeakers have been following for the last 20 years," said Vaissie. "By combining components in the enclosure in a certain way, we were able to reduce the weight, reduce the size, but also have more compact, and more efficient power (sound) out."
What's it like for the company to debut the new technology at the Hollywood Bowl? "We're so proud and honored to work with them. We have more than 12,000 venues around the world that use our systems," said Vaissie. They've had sound systems at the Hollywood Bowl for two decades. "The Bowl has always been a very special place for us," said the company's CEO.
The technical team at the Bowl said one of the big challenges they face is they could have a comedy show one night, a movie with a live orchestra soundtrack the next, and a rock concert the following day.
"We present a world-class orchestra with the LA Philharmonic. We present global touring artists. We do all these special one-off shows. All of those things are very different demands on a sound system," said Kelvin Vu, the Hollywood Bowl’s Vice President of Venue Operations.
He said in addition to the new L-Acoustics audio system they added to the bowl, they've installed surround sound speakers on the sides of the venue like you would find in a movie theater. "We installed 26 surround speakers around the auditorium," said Vu. "How do we create an immersive experience? A lot of times they are in movie theaters, they're in much smaller rooms. We want all 17.000 people here to have that immersive effect."
The team at the Westlake Village-based company is hoping they’ve developed the new next generation sound system standard.
"What we're trying to do is make the listening experience at the Hollywood Bowl as ideal as possible for everyone. The goal of a sound system is to transfer the energy, and the emotion from the stage to the audience," said Scott Sugden, the company’s Director of Product Management for Innovation.
How will it sound different to the audience?
"If you come for a classical music night, it will feel like you are in a concert hall, versus being in an outdoor venue," said Sugden. "That can change the way you listen to the experience, because you're surrounded by the sound. If you come for a movie night, you're going to hear the F-14 fly by you, so it's going to feel like you are in the cinema, with a live orchestra on stage. And for the sound on the stage, it's going to be more dynamic, and feel more like live music as opposed to listening to a recording."
The Hollywood Bowl sound system is a pilot project for the Conejo Valley-based company. It’s expected to be 2027 before the new technology is widely available at other major concert venues.
