Avicii Arena enters a new acoustic era with Meyer Sound

The new system of Meyer Sound, with Constellation active acoustic technology and Spacemap Go tools, have provided this stadium with a powerful and immersive sound at the height of the architecture of the venue.

He Avicii Arena of Sweden is not just an architectural landmark, but the largest spherical building in Europe. Con 85 meters high and 110 in diameter, this monumental steel structure, concrete and glass houses more than 600.000 cubic meters of space and up to 14.000 seats for sporting events. As part of an ambitious comprehensive renovation, The venue has taken a qualitative leap by integrating an innovative Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, that is redefining the possibilities of the sound experience in sporting events.

Until now, the magnitude of the Avicii Arena, with its vast dimensions, presented great acoustic challenges. One of the most notable problems, especially at ice hockey games, was that the fans themselves were struggling to hear each other across the venue. This system goes beyond traditional concert halls, setting a new standard for active acoustics in multipurpose venues.

Anders Jorgensen, of the installation team Stouenborg, key piece in the project together with John Pellowe y Ana Lorente de Meyer Sound, and the original concept of Adam Foxwell y Sebastian Holm of Reverberation, describes the philosophy behind this implementation.

For sporting events, Constellation's real-time processing takes care of crowd noise, chants and music are redistributed evenly throughout the arena, elevating emotional connection.

Jørgensen highlights key achievement for Swedish hockey fans: “One of the main motivations for this facility was ice hockey.”. In Sweden, fans chant to each other from opposite ends of the arena. Before update, The fans couldn't hear each other and now they can.".

precision engineering

Achieving this sound coverage in a space of such magnitude required great precision in each phase of the project.. John Pellowe, Constellation project manager at Meyer Sound, brand that distributes in Spain RMS Proaudio, highlights the complexity. “The grid is 35 meters above the sand floor. You can't just send someone to adjust the angle of a speaker. “Everything had to be perfect upon arrival.”

The system is made up of a matrix of 12 Meyer Sound Ultra-X40 compact point source speakers and 72 Ultra -X42, along with 72 shotgun microphones, all angled and suspended from a custom-made acoustic ceiling, designed by Efterklang.

Anders Jørgensen describes the challenge they faced. “The roof is shaped like a Pringle potato.”, folded in two directions. That introduced challenges for how we could set up, aim and space speakers and microphones”.

This new acoustic ceiling not only improves the reverberation time of the venue, but it is a crucial factor for the optimal functioning of the Constellation system. All infrastructure is managed by procesadores Meyer Sound Galileo Galaxy and the Nadia digital processor, and is segmented into 12 distinct zones for precise spatial control.

An installation against the clock

The time constraints for this project were extreme. What would normally require three months of on-site installation had to be completed in two weeks, due to the demands of the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2025. To achieve, the Stouenborg team pre-built and fully tested the system in their Copenhagen workshop, with each speaker and microphone pre-angled, assembled and labeled for exact placement.

Spacemap Go functionality is built into the system, offering access to immersive effects without additional complexity. Jørgensen highlights its ease of use. “We created six different presets that you can choose from with six inputs. Each of those inputs is routed differently depending on the preset. You just load one, you listen and that's it; That type of behavior is what we are looking for.”.

An enriched audience experience

The Avicii Arena project is a clear example of the expansion of Meyer Sound's approach to audio in large-scale venues. John Pellowe highlights the importance of this evolution.

Mats Viker, CEO of Stockholm Globe Arena Fastigheter AB, venue owner, concludes by highlighting the fundamental impact of the system on the collective experience. “We wanted to create a space that offered more than just sound; that united people. Whether fans are cheering a goal or on the edge of their seats in overtime, Constellation makes every moment feel shared.”