Meyer Sound LEOPARD Makes Debut at German Festival for the First Time
At the recent 44th Moers Festival, the organisers aimed to create an intimate concert hall experience akin to a small club, utilising Meyer Sound's LEOPARD linear loudspeaker system and 900-LFC subwoofer. Gerhard Veeck, the festival's technical director, praised the system for bringing the audience closer to the stage, creating an intimate atmosphere.
The LEOPARD system, known for its compactness and excellent pattern control, delivered clear, direct sound to the front rows and nearby audience without the typical reflections associated with large halls. This design helped recreate the close, up-front feel of a small club.
The system layout was carefully designed for even, focused coverage. LEOPARD was deployed in left-center-right (LCR) arrays or smaller, distributed clusters, limiting the number of loudspeakers and using coverage-optimised angles to avoid excessive reverberance and preserve the “intimate” sonic environment.
Meyer Sound’s 900-LFC subs, positioned in a cardioid or end-fire configuration, provided tight, powerful bass, reducing unwanted low-frequency reflections and maintaining clarity and intimacy in the concert hall.
Frontfills or nearfills were integrated to provide close-range clarity, supplementing the LEOPARD arrays with units carefully aimed at the first few rows for an immersive, detailed sound close to the stage, similar to a small club setting.
The system was optimised with digital signal processing and tuning, using Meyer Sound’s proprietary tools and real-time analyzers to tailor frequency response, delay, and level to the unique acoustics of the concert hall. Speaker placement considerations included positioning LEOPARD arrays closer to the audience and avoiding overhead or far-back speaker hangs, favouring a more direct sound source proximity.
Room acoustic treatments or configurations were also considered to further enhance the effect of a small club atmosphere, with acoustic panels, curtains, or variable acoustics helping to control reverberation.
The system, consisting of eight LEOPARD compact line array loudspeakers on each side, 11 900-LFC elements arranged in a heart pattern under the stage, one UPQ-1P and two UPA-1P speakers for outfill, and eight M'elodie line array loudspeakers on the stage edge for nearfill, marked the world concert premiere for this specific loudspeaker system.
Bjoern Wiesehofer, the festival's systems engineer, stated that the LEOPARD system is the most linear and easiest to use line array he's ever worked with. Contour, an events service provider, made the decision to invest in the LEOPARD system and has been the event's equipment partner for the past eight years. The Galileo Callisto Loudspeaker Management System, consisting of one Galileo 616 AES Callisto and two Galileo Callisto 616 Array Processors, was also utilised.
In essence, leveraging the LEOPARD’s directivity and compactness combined with controlled subwoofer deployment and careful system tuning can transform a concert hall sound into an intimate, club-like listening experience that retains clarity, warmth, and proximity without sacrificing power or fidelity.
The LEOPARD system, with its compact size and precise pattern control, delivered a clear, direct sound to the audience, simulating the up-close feel of a small club. Additionally, the technology utilized in the system, such as the optimized angles of the speakers and the 900-LFC subs in cardioid or end-fire configuration, helped maintain the "intimate" sonic environment desired, by reducing reflections and avoiding excessive reverberation.
