Originally constructed in 1956 and left dormant for five decades, Movistar Arena has since become one of the busiest live performance venues in South America. Located in Santiago’s O’Higgins Park, the multipurpose venue opened to the public in 2006 and, two years later, added 5,000 seats to reach its current 16,500 capacity. Today, the arena ranks fourth globally in ticket sales, according to Pollstar, with more than 1.4 million tickets sold in 2024.

As artist demand and audience expectations have grown, Movistar Arena recently made a significant investment to upgrade its in-house sound system, turning to longtime rental partner L-Acoustics. On the recommendation of its exclusive audio vendor, Bsound, the arena has permanently installed an L-Acoustics K2 system — a solution already familiar to many visiting acts.

“I’ve been working with L-Acoustics for decades; in fact, I was involved with the first system sold in Chile, so I deeply understand the company’s philosophy, development and sound quality,” said Daniel Vinagre, founder and CEO of Bsound. “Other brands proposed designs for the arena, but the best proposal came from L-Acoustics and, for me, there was no doubt that it was the right one. We required more than just a simple loudspeaker upgrade. Our goal was to have better SPL control, and L-Acoustics clearly offered the best results in terms of SPL, integrity and coverage.”

Movistar Arena’s dome-shaped architecture, combined with historical preservation rules, created acoustic challenges that couldn’t be solved through structural changes. Instead, the team worked within the building’s constraints. Francisco Jaramillo from L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor VGL collaborated with Bsound and consultant Salvador Castañeda on calibration, while Application Engineer Alex Soto created the system design in L-Acoustics’ Soundvision software. Bsound’s technical team fine-tuned the configuration.

The final system includes main arrays of 18 K2 loudspeakers per side, each supported by eight K1-SB subwoofers and 12 additional K2s for out-fill. Sixteen Kara II units stacked in pairs serve front-fill, while five more Kara II per side are flown to cover the 270-degree seating areas. Low frequencies are delivered through 18 KS28 subs in six stacks, and the system is powered by LA-RAK II with LS10 Milan-AVB switches and two P1 processors for control.

A key innovation was the flown cardioid subwoofer design, which helped control bass reflections inside the venue’s dome. “We successfully addressed this by designing a flown cardioid subwoofer setup, integrating the main and out-fill arrays with subs flown behind both arrays at equal distances,” Vinagre said. “This approach allowed us to gain directional control of the low end, significantly improving the overall system response while working harmoniously with the arena’s distinctive architectural character.”

Flexibility was also a major factor. “The flexibility of this system was also one of the main reasons we chose it,” Vinagre said. “We can easily repurpose it to do half-arena, 360-degree and other custom configurations depending on what we’re hosting. This is a very dynamic venue. We not only have rock and roll shows, but everything from tennis matches to circuses as well, so we needed a system that could handle it all. L-Acoustics K2, with its adjustable Panflex directivity, versatile rigging and reasonably light weight, is a very versatile performer.”

Signal distribution is handled via a Milan-AVB network, chosen for both practicality and reliability. “We are feeding the audio signals to the system through Milan-AVB, chosen for its stability and practicality — since each of the two CAT6 cables carries eight audio signals, providing redundancy — and primarily because the audio signal remains in the digital domain, thus avoiding losses due to distance and noise from induction,” Vinagre said. “It has proven to be very successful. In over 100 shows to date, we’ve never needed the redundancy. And even if we did, we’ve already verified that it functions correctly, even when switching to the backup AES system.”

The system debuted with four sold-out shows by Puerto Rican reggaetón star Anuel AA and has since been used for performances by Lenny Kravitz, Toto, Dream Theater, Tool, Sting, Aurora and Simply Red — the last of whom sold out five nights at the arena.

“Almost every visiting artist and audio engineer has told us that they really love our new system,” Vinagre said. “K2 is working like a champ — the sound has been incredible and our audiences are absolutely loving what they’re hearing. We couldn’t be happier with our choice of L-Acoustics.”