TEATRO ÓPERA ORBIS, BUENOS AIRES

A historic theatre with 2,500 seats and over 150 years of legacy

In the heart of the iconic Avenida Corrientes, just a few steps from the Obelisk, stands the Teatro Ópera Orbis. A landmark of Porteño Art Deco and originally inaugurated in 1872, the venue has hosted legendary international artists such as Édith Piaf, Louis Armstrong and Ava Gardner. With a capacity of 2,500 people and an impressive architectural design, the Ópera presented several technical challenges in terms of acoustics. The goal: to deliver the highest possible sound quality without compromising the venue’s aesthetics or the audience’s experience.

This project was carried out in collaboration with Discopro Tevelam, our official distributor in Argentina, and Buenos Aires Live Show (BALS), a benchmark company in sound and lighting solutions for live performances. Thanks to the experience and deep understanding of the theatre by its technical team — led by Hernán Niupieri, Diego González, Valentín Vieites and Nacho Videla — the perfect solution was found to successfully overcome the acoustic challenges of the Teatro Ópera.

Acoustic and architectural challenges in a space with strong character

Designing a sound system for a theatre always involves a series of key challenges: ensuring uniform coverage throughout the seating area, delivering high speech intelligibility and excellent musical quality, minimising sound spill onto the stage and sensitive areas, and providing a versatile solution capable of adapting to various types of events — from theatrical plays and screenings to corporate events or concerts in theatres with high acoustic demands.

An additional challenge came from the historical architecture itself — specifically the steep angle of the pullman (upper balcony), which made it particularly complex to maintain coverage and tonal consistency in that area without compromising the aesthetics or making any structural modifications. This required a meticulous design process using acoustic prediction and close technical collaboration with Hernán Niupieri and Diego González from the Buenos Aires Live Show (BALS) team.

Uniform, defined and controlled sound with SARA and cardioid technology

The sound reinforcement solution for the Teatro Ópera Orbis was custom-designed to fully respect the historical structure by using only the existing rigging points, with no need for alterations to the building. To ensure consistent coverage and tonal quality throughout the venue, various DAS Audio systems were carefully selected and directed to specific areas of the theatre.

In the stalls and lower balcony, two SARA line arrays were installed, each consisting of seven cabinets: three SARA-80 modules at the top and four SARA-100 modules at the bottom. As sound reinforcement, four ARA-P28.115 systems were added as front-fills, two ARA-P12.115 systems as in-fills, and two ARA P28.74 units along with two SARA-SUBs as side-fills.

In the pullman (upper balcony), due to its steep architectural angle, two SARA line arrays were flown at a height of 11 metres, each composed of six units: three SARA-80s at the top and three SARA-100s at the bottom, providing precise and consistent dispersion.

Mechanical optimisation of the line arrays was carried out using EASE Focus and EASE 5 prediction software. Additional optimisation with FIR filters (DASaim) was considered, which allows for enhanced sound pressure distribution across the audience. However, it was not required thanks to the strong results achieved during the design phase. DASaim represents a major advance in sound technology, helping ensure coherence and uniformity in installations of this kind.

To achieve clarity and homogeneity of sound in the low frequencies, two central arrays of four SARA-SUBs each were flown. Being cardioid systems, they helped reduce sound spill onto the stage and avoid vibrations in nearby structures. The horizontal coverage of the subwoofers was adjusted by modifying the distance between them and adapting to the theatre’s architecture. Vertical dispersion was optimised by applying electronic delay to the lower cabinets, enhancing impact in the front rows and ensuring a balanced pressure level throughout the room, including the rear of the venue, for maximum consistency in low-frequency response.

This complex process of design and tuning was carried out through a combination of prediction, acoustic measurements and perceptual fine-tuning in the hall itself, in close collaboration with the technical team from Buenos Aires Live Show (BALS), ultimately delivering a high-quality sonic result.

“DAS Audio’s sound systems have brought great acoustic coherence”

Valentín Vieites, sound engineer at Teatro Ópera, stated: “The integration of the SARA system from DAS Audio, along with the other installed products, brought great acoustic coherence to the venue”. He added: “I’m especially pleased with the subwoofer configuration — we’ve achieved exceptional coverage from the front rows to the very back seats, significantly enhancing the audience’s experience”.

Álvaro Plumed, Applications Engineer at DAS Audio, noted: “The prior planning and communication with the technical team was key”. He continued: “We achieved prediction accuracy by building a model from the theatre’s blueprints and validating everything on-site with the team from Buenos Aires Live Show (BALS). That allowed us to work efficiently upon arrival and achieve a great result. We hope the audience enjoys the theatre experience as much as we enjoyed working with our colleagues from Buenos Aires Live Show (BALS) and Discopro Tevelam during system setup”.