The Victoria Hotel & Conference Centre is the leading venue in Donetsk, capital of the Donets Basin region of the Ukraine. It is also situated very close to the Donbass Arena, home of local soccer heroes (and 2009 UEFA Cup winners) FC Shakhtar Donetsk (FCSD), and one of the venues for last year's Euro 2012 tournament.
In preparation for Euro 2012, which saw a sizeable portion of the UEFA delegation staying at the Victoria, the hotel was thoroughly refurbished and all of its audio systems were renewed throughout. Odessa-based installer Real Music, who are also the QSC distributor for Ukraine, were responsible for installing all of the PA/VA speakers and systems.
A QSC ILA line array comprising 16 WL2082-i elements (eight left, eight right) and four WL118-sw subwoofers was used in the main conference hall at the Victoria, where all of the pre- and post-match press conferences were held during the tournament. The array was driven by a combination of four PLX3102 amps, plus a PLX1QSC104 and an RMX 5050, and managed by an SC28 system controller.
A slightly smaller version of the same system was used in the main hotel restaurant, with eight WL2082-i elements, six WL118-sw subs, and a pair of PLX3102 amps, together with RMX 4050HD, RMX 850, and PL380 amps and another SC28 system controller. Music in the hotel's second, smaller restaurant was provided by six KW Series Active KW153 three-way speakers and a pair each of KW122 two-way units and KW181 subs.
Finally, a system comprising a pair of multi-purpose AD-S82 speakers and eight further compact AD-S52Ts, driven respectively by ISA-500Ti and ISA-300Ti amplifiers, was used in the hotel lobby, ensuring good coverage in all of the hotel's public spaces.
Vladimir Golovan, brand manager at Real Music's pro audio department, explained the choice of QSC amps and speakers at the Hotel Victoria. "We believed that this was the best equipment on the market to fulfil the hotel's requirements given their budget, and after we had demonstrated it to the owners, they believed us. The management were delighted and said they had never before heard better."
