Galleries and museums around the world host an enormous range of art installations and exhibitions, but what appears on screen or occupies the space is often only part of the experience. Audio plays a significant role in these environments, whether by setting the atmosphere, providing complementary background music, or serving as the installation’s soundscape. Integrator ArtAV specialises in exactly these kinds of spaces, where the supporting AV technology must be technically sophisticated, reliable over extended periods, and nearly invisible. Installations are temporary, often complex, and audio systems are typically operated by curators, exhibition staff, or the artists themselves. Dedicated technical teams are expensive and increasingly rare; systems must therefore deliver high-quality output while remaining simple to operate.
To meet these demands, ArtAV has gradually standardised on Connect Series amplifiers from LEA Professional and loudspeakers from Fohhn. The relationship between ArtAV and LEA was facilitated by Audiologic, whose expertise and industry relationships helped connect the two companies. Together, these technologies have enabled ArtAV to balance operational simplicity with a robust technical foundation across several international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale. Behind the scenes, though, these systems are far from simple. Many installations involve lots of audio channels spread across several rooms or outdoor areas, with equipment concealed in walls, plant spaces, or temporary racks. ArtAV’s team sets up, measures, and fine-tunes the audio at each installation using LEA Professional’s extensive DSP parameters and its highly regarded Sharkware configuration suite.
“Usability can be every bit as important as amplification power and sonic performance,” said Simon Weightman, Project Manager at ArtAV. “In addition to the built-in DSP capabilities and speaker tunings, LEA amplifiers offer an absolutely fantastic web GUI [WebUI] that simplifies day-to-day operations for front-of-house staff. That is a huge benefit and a significant part of the reason we standardized on LEA for amplification.”
ArtAV worked alongside John Akomfrah on his largest and most ambitious exhibition to date, ‘Listening All Night To The Rain’, at the 60th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. It included 104 audio channels distributed across a basement gallery, flanking side rooms, and a main hall, all of which were required to play in precise sync. Each space carried its own distinct soundscape: 18 loudspeakers setting a foreboding tone in the basement, voices threading through a suspended sculptural cloud of tape players and vinyl records, and a sphere of sound shaped by 20 loudspeakers in the main gallery’s immersive eight-projection wrap-around. With spaces in close proximity and wildly different sonic characters, the audio mix needed to both stand alone in each room and cohere as a single, unified experience.
LEA’s amplifiers proved central to achieving that balance. ArtAV’s team installed several Connect Series 168 amplifiers to power the exhibit. The CS168 is an 8-channel amplifier providing 160 watts per channel. All amplifiers in the Connect Series are professional-grade, IoT-enabled smart amplifiers suitable for installations of any size. They support both Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z, selectable by channel, eliminating the need for separate amplifiers to handle different speaker impedances, while streamlining installations and reducing equipment costs. The Connect Series also includes 96kHz DSP as a standard feature, providing a range of benefits that greatly enhance audio performance and system versatility. “With over 100 channels of audio in the installation, LEA’s metering and control enabled fast fault-finding and responsive level tweaks during the exhibition, but it wasn’t just a case of ‘set and forget’,” recalled Weightman. “We could monitor and manage the system remotely from the UK during operation, as well as during the installation. Also, the LEA amps fit eight channels of 160W in 1U. Being able to have that smaller form factor is a massive bonus for us.”
Artgoers and critics responded very positively to the exhibit, praising its immersive blend of moving image, sound, and archival material, with major reviews calling it a “magnificent” and emotionally overwhelming experience. “As installations become more immersive and increasingly reliant on complex audio, having intelligent amplification is now just as important as having great loudspeakers,” said Weightman. “With LEA, we know we have a platform that is reliable, flexible, and easy to support remotely, which allows us to focus on helping artists realize their vision.”
