Christie, the world’s dominant brand in the digital cinema projection market, has introduced Christie LA3S line array surround speakers. Another industry first for Christie, the new surround speakers expand the company’s innovative Christie Vive Audio cinema sound solution that was announced on July 17. Krikorian Premiere Theatres’ Buena Park Metroplex 18 in California is the first deployment of a complete Christie Vive Audio cinema sound system in an auditorium powered by Dolby Atmos.
“Krikorian Theatres are recognized for taking the lead in implementing the first and best technology available to ensure an unrivaled movie-viewing experience for their guests,” said Craig Sholder, vice president, Entertainment Solutions, Christie. “The combination of a complete Christie Vive Audio system and the award-winning Dolby Atmos audio format heralds a new standard in delivering lifelike, realistic cinema sound and continues Krikorian Theatres’ tradition of bringing the latest, cutting-edge technology to their facilities.”
The 40-channel, cinema-centric line array audio system implemented at Krikorian Theatres includes the latest addition to the Christie Vive Audio line; the Christie LA3C ceiling line array; and Christie LA3S wall line array surround speakers. Recognized for their exceptional timbre matching, enhanced voice intelligibility, and low distortion, the speakers’ unique parabolic, line array design increases the optimal listening area up to four times that of the standard point source systems. As fully integrated components of the Christie Vive Audio system, the speakers help unlock the full potential of leading audio technologies such as Dolby Atmos.
“Like Dolby, the hallmark of Christie’s success has been its continuous ability to deliver innovative and groundbreaking solutions to the exhibition market. Christie’s latest developments in cinema-specific line array surround speaker technology meet the requirements and performance we strive for in Dolby Atmos auditoriums,” said Stuart Bowling, director, market development, Dolby Laboratories.
“We are excited to expand Dolby Atmos to our Buena Park location. The addition of an integrated Christie Vive Audio solution, combined with the power of Dolby Atmos, ensures a potent combination of sight and sound that will ensure the highest quality movie-going experience for our guests,” said Todd Cummings, vice president of operations, Krikorian Premiere Theatres. “We were one of the first major exhibitors to offer all-digital screens, and now we are the first to deliver the unrivaled combination of Christie Vive Audio and Dolby Atmos.”
Featuring the pioneering combination of ribbon driver technology and a unique parabolic line array design in a single compact cabinet, the additional speakers deliver exceptionally even coverage throughout the auditorium. As part of the Christie Vive Audio system, they help unleash the potential of the leading immersive audio technologies such as Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D audio formats.
“Immersive audio is the next frontier in digital cinema, allowing the placement of sound anywhere in the theater – even on the ceiling – to perfectly complement the visual elements of the movie in a powerful and dynamic, lifelike way that is unrivaled for its realism,” said Sholder. “Christie Vive Audio has set the new standard in immersive cinema sound by combining all the benefits of ribbon driver technology in a line array configuration with Class D amplification and putting it all into a cinema environment, while also meeting the performance demands of the DCI specification. With this announcement, we’re expanding our product line with surround speakers that produce unprecedented uniformity of sound throughout the entire audience listening area, without compromising on quality.”
The Christie LA3C line array ceiling surround speaker and Christie LA3S line array surround speakers are premium solutions that also meet Christie’s goal of providing exhibitors with the highest quality cinema system at an attainable price point. Recognized for their exceptional timbre matching, enhanced voice intelligibility and low distortion, the speakers’ unique parabolic, line array design increases the optimal listening area up to four times that of the standard point source systems. The extremely low mass of the ribbon drivers allows them to respond very quickly to audio signals and eliminates the effects of high frequency breakup and power compression, resulting in the reproduction of the source material with exceptional clarity and accuracy.
“The Christie LA3C and Christie LA3S surround speakers feature dramatically higher RMS to peak max SPL ratio than traditional, compression driver systems. This means that powerful, sudden bursts of sounds, such as explosions, pop through quickly and flawlessly, without the lag that can detract from the purity of the experience,” said Jim Hall, senior product manager, Entertainment Solutions, Christie.
“There is nothing like them in the cinema environment today for immersive auditoriums,” said Patrick Artiaga, director, Business Development, Entertainment Solutions, Christie. “The speakers’ unique parabolic line array design ensures a wide, even dispersion of the sound throughout the entire auditorium, so ‘every seat is a good seat.’ As part of the Christie Vive Audio system, they can be easily integrated into any existing or new theater auditorium for a premium immersive listening experience that makes exhibitors stand out from their competition.”
“As the creative community expands the envelope in delivering audiences the most realistic audio experience possible, we’ve developed a series of specific Christie Vive audio products that help exhibitors meet those performance challenges,” Artiaga continued. “By introducing Christie ribbon driver technology through a single-enclosure line array speaker design and Class D amplification into a cinema environment, we’ve raised the bar in next-generation audio technology and implementation, giving exhibitors like Krikorian Theatres a true competitive edge.”
The complete Christie Vive Audio solution includes ceiling surrounds, wall surrounds, screen channel speakers, subwoofers, and Class D amplifiers. The system is ideal for traditional and premium large-format auditoriums, as well as postproduction studios and screening rooms.
For more information on Christie’s new audio initiatives, visit www.viveaudio.com.
For the latest list of Dolby Atmos titles visit, dolby.com/atmosmovies. To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit dolby.com/Atmos.
Christie Digital Systems www.christiedigital.com
Dolby Laboratories www.dolby.com