Polygon Live, a 360-degree immersive audio company that produces unique listening solutions to live music experiences, held its first UK event this spring, calling on Britannia Row Productions in London before replicating the level of service in North America with LD Systems in the build-up to Bonnaroo Music & Art Festival.
Since 2017, Polygon Live has been working closely with L-Acoustics and a team of spatial audio engineers, and when a 3-day event, Polygon Live LDN, was conceived for the Italian Terraces at London's Crystal Palace Park, Britannia Row Productions became the organisation's ideal audio rental partner.
"I've always been really interested in what high quality audio is, and how it can be experienced," begins Polygon CEO, Nico Elliott. "One of the things that triggered my intrigue was listening to quadrophonic sound systems back in the day. You'd see four stacks of speakers and I always thought: 'That's interesting, but why are there only four…? Why aren't there more speakers?' When we came across L-ISA [L-Acoustics’ spatial audio mixing tool] in 2016, we realised it could allow us to do what we wanted to achieve for our event. L-ISA wasn't designed for a 360 environment, but in a frontal setup, it could easily be used in a 360 configuration...
“The reason we do Polygon is not only because we're extremely passionate about audio and music, but we really want to give people the experience of enjoying music in this format, where from the audience, you can hear so much more detail. If you listen to your favorite artist in stereo and then in a Polygon dome, they're very different listening experiences.”
Nico continues: "When we were looking for an audio partner to do our first event in London, we came across Britannia Row. I had a wonderful experience dealing with Account Executive Dave Compton; easy, smooth communication. We received rapid quotations, even though we had many changes along the way. We even re-designed the space at once point and Britannia Row were so supportive. It felt like working with a true partner."
Polygon Systems Designer, David Lopez de Arenosa, furthers: "The technical staff at Britannia Row went to great efforts to understand what we were trying to do and why we were asking for certain pieces of gear. Rather than just looking at a list and ticking off as many items as possible, they really spent the time going through the details to understand the intention behind it. They were able to truly fulfill our needs, even suggesting other pieces that could streamline the process. Their technical knowledge and attention to detail truly made the difference."
Nico adds: "As a result, the system Britannia Row deployed sounded better than I've ever heard it sound in a short time frame.”
At Crystal Palace, Polygon benefitted from a 12.1.4 immersive audio system that fully enveloped the audience 360-degrees. L-Acoustics L2D speakers were hung up front, with A15's for surrounds, A10's overhead, and KS28 subwoofers for low end reinforcement. All speakers were within a 25m circular radius so that every audience member received a high quality, intimate, immersive listening experience.
"We used the L-ISA processor to fully spatialize the music around the audience,” David explains. “One of the elements that makes Polygon unique is that we truly prioritize the sound experience with a no-compromise approach. The speakers aren't 150ft away behind a video wall or flown high up out of the way of projector screens; they are exactly where they need to be.
"Technically, there was a lot of complex routing and signal processing behind the scenes to pull off seven fully spatialized live performances each day, with minimal downtime between acts. Two FOH consoles were working in an A/B configuration so that while one band is performing, the next band is line checking backstage. Each act also had its own L-ISA processor with over 40 drive channels to the PA system. That had to be crossfaded seamlessly between acts through a DirectOut Prodigy matrix processor. On top of that, we had customized multi-channel spatial audio music playlists between the acts.
"Having a perfectly dialed-in control package is crucial to pulling off such a complex production. We wouldn't have been able to do it without each specialty item working perfectly throughout the weekend."
Off the back of Polygon Live LDN, Nico explains that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive from the audience, and industry peers. "One record label owner told us that she'd never had a musical experience like it in her life. Coming from somebody who goes to 20+ festivals a year, that was cool to hear."
Polygon's next outing was set for Bonnaroo in Tennessee, which would have seen many artists play in stereo outputs rather than multi tracks or with live instruments, and the Polygon team spatializing single tracks. However, with severe weather warnings in place, the festival was cancelled after just one day of programming due to safety concerns.
With the festival pre-production process staying within Clair Global, courtesy of Houston-based LD Systems, the build-up was seamless.
Nico continues: "For Bonnaroo we were working with LD Systems. Once you've done this with an audio vendor and it's gone this well, you know that doing it again is going to be a peaceful experience. What we do is a little bit different, but when you bring lots of extraordinarily talented and passionate people together, the effort is above and beyond.”
LD Systems Audio Operations Manager, Thomas Ruffner, furthers: "When the Infinity stage design at Bonnaroo first came on our radar in late 2024, we were extremely excited to be involved as it would be our first chance to work on an L-ISA project. However, we also understood that it would be a complex undertaking that would require additional rental resources beyond our (then) inventory. Fast-forward to 2025, and after the announcement that LD Systems was joining Clair Global, we began collaborating with worldwide operations who were instrumental in assisting us with those equipment needs. It's very inspiring to experience that level of support."
Bryan Woodall, LD Systems Audio Crew Chief / Systems Engineer adds: "The support of Clair Global on an international scale ensured equipment needs were met through LD Systems. The immersive sound experience requires a sophisticated hemispherical system design that is vastly different than a traditional stereo deployment. By working directly with Polygon at our LD Systems headquarters, we were able to mockup the system's control package and amplifier network in preparation for a smooth system deployment."
"You learn so much with these deep learning curves," Nico concludes. "When you're under this level of pressure, it's amazing what can be achieved.”
David agrees: "We're very thankful that Britannia Row and LD Systems work in such close communication and can share their expertise to provide the same level of high-quality gear and support on the other side of the pond. Both companies have deep levels of experience in executing complicated productions, so we give huge thanks to their audio crews who joined us to make our vision such a success."
