Great Hall. Great Sound.
Great Hall. Great Sound.
Client: University of Bradford
Project
See how the University of Bradford transformed audio quality in the Great Hall with KV2 Audio which now delivers clear, intelligible speech and consistent coverage throughout the entire venue…
Transforming Audio
For a space that hosts some of the biggest moments in university life, being heard matters. With capacity for around 900 people, the University of Bradford’s Great Hall is used for graduation ceremonies, lectures, exams, open days, welcome events, Microsoft Teams meetings and events hosted by external organisations. But its existing audio system was no longer meeting the demands of such a varied and heavily used space. Speech intelligibility was a particular challenge, with uneven coverage making it difficult for audiences to hear clearly throughout the auditorium and balcony.
Working with the University’s technical team and KV2 Audio, Roche AV Pro delivered a complete audio upgrade designed to provide the clarity, coverage and flexibility the Great Hall needed.
The Challenge
For Audio Visual Architect Nick Cragg and colleague Jonathan Marsden, upgrading the Great Hall had been an ambition for several years. The brief went beyond simply making the room louder. The new system needed to deliver clear, intelligible speech and consistent coverage throughout the entire venue, while offering enough power and headroom for media playback and a wider range of events.
Just as importantly, it needed to work from the front of the stage through to the rear tiered seating and upper balcony, areas where the previous system had struggled to maintain consistent audio performance. With the Great Hall regularly used by visiting speakers and external organisations, ease of use and reliability were also fundamental to the design.
Finding the right sound
The University’s relationship with KV2 Audio began at Integrated Systems Europe 2023, where Nick and Jonathan heard a KV2 demonstration after assessing a number of alternative loudspeaker options. The performance immediately stood out. Nick explains:
“We had been searching for powerful sound suitable for both speech and media playback, and KV2 offered exactly that. We were immediately impressed by the quality of the loudspeakers.”
That initial introduction developed into a wider relationship, with smaller KV2 systems subsequently deployed in the Horton Barn Lecture Theatre and Norcroft Building.
Those installations gave both the University and Roche AV Pro first-hand experience of KV2 in teaching environments before attention turned to the much larger and more demanding Great Hall.
Once funding was approved, Roche AV Pro worked alongside the University and KV2 to translate the requirements into a system capable of delivering consistent performance throughout the auditorium. At the heart of the solution are two KV2 ESR106 three-way column arrays, flown left and right of the stage to provide the main coverage across the space.
Four ES1.8 subwoofers concealed beneath the stage extend the system’s low-frequency performance, while centrally flown ESD12 loudspeakers provide additional coverage across the lower auditorium and upper balcony. The balcony presented a particular challenge. Four ESD25 loudspeakers positioned beneath it operate as delays, helping maintain balanced coverage across the tiered seating towards the rear of the hall, while ESD36 loudspeakers support the balcony itself.
Four compact CS6 loudspeakers positioned along the stage provide front-fill coverage for audience members seated outside the optimum coverage of the main arrays. Further ESD36 loudspeakers provide foldback to the stage. Together, the different elements allow the system to address the acoustics and geometry of the Great Hall as a whole, rather than relying on a single loudspeaker position to reach every seat.
Partners
More than a Graduation Venue
While graduation ceremonies provided one of the clearest reasons for upgrading the system, the Great Hall has to accommodate far more. Its calendar ranges from lectures and university events to Teams meetings and external hires, requiring a system equally comfortable reproducing the spoken word and higher-impact media content.
The Hall also has a history of hosting live music, opening up the possibility of the new infrastructure supporting a broader range of events in the future.
For Roche AV Pro Sales Manager Stafford Lund, the University's previous experience with KV2 made the technology a natural fit.
“We were blown away by the sound quality of the previous KV2 installations in the Horton Barn Lecture Theatre and Norcroft Building. Their products deliver the clarity and impact the University requires, so using KV2 again for the Great Hall was a natural progression.”
The Result
The difference was apparent as soon as the upgraded system supported its first graduation ceremonies. Speech intelligibility has been transformed, providing clearer and more consistent audio throughout the auditorium and helping ensure students, families and guests can hear those important moments wherever they are seated. The system has also proved straightforward for visiting users to operate, while giving the University's technical team significantly greater capability and flexibility. Nick explains:
“We recently ran the first graduation ceremony using the system and the improvement in vocal intelligibility was remarkable. Visiting users have also found it easy to set up and have been blown away by the sound quality.”
For a hall designed to bring hundreds of people together, the upgrade means the experience is no longer dependent on where someone happens to be sitting. From the front row to the balcony, the Great Hall finally has Great Sound to match - and we look forward to working alongside KV2 Audio and the University on future projects.
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