JAPAN: At Shibuya Hikarie, one of Tokyo’s most recognisable landmarks, flexibility is not a luxury. The 34-storey skyscraper is directly connected to Shibuya Station and its ninth-floor Hikarie Hall has become a sought-after event destination, hosting everything from corporate conferences to around half the runway shows at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. To keep pace, the hall has replaced its ageing sound system with a permanent L-Acoustics installation across Hall A and Hall B, supported by a mobile rig that can scale up for larger productions.

L-Acoustics Certified Partner Bestec Audio was brought in to design the system after the previous loudspeakers had begun to constrain the venue’s capabilities. “The speakers originally used in the hall were outdated and starting to limit what we could offer the hall’s clients,” says Ayaka Oyama from Pacific Art Center, the company that oversees sound management at Hikarie Hall. “There was a ceiling on the volume we could produce, and at noisy events like receptions, the sound would sometimes get lost in the chatter. We combined the permanent speakers with temporary ones, but over the past few years even that was sometimes inadequate.”

The new system combines Kiva II and A Series enclosures in the permanent installations, with additional A Series loudspeakers and KS21 subwoofers available as a mobile rig. The approach gives Hikarie Hall a common L-Acoustics platform that can be configured around the requirements of individual events and room layouts.

Performance was only part of the brief. With the hall operating within a high-profile architectural environment, aesthetics also mattered. Oyama says the team was looking for a softer, less intrusive appearance, favouring rounded forms over angular designs. L-Acoustics’ dark grey-brown finish offered an alternative to the solid black appearance commonly associated with professional loudspeakers.

Following side-by-side demonstrations of several manufacturers, the team selected L-Acoustics based on what Oyama describes as the combination of performance and transparent sonic signature best suited to the hall’s broad range of applications, while also meeting its aesthetic requirements.

Bestec Audio designed the system using L-Acoustics Soundvision software and trained the Pacific Art Center team to manage the system themselves. That has shifted much of the day-to-day configuration into the venue, allowing settings to be prepared ahead of events and recalled on site.

“The training gave us a much better understanding of Soundvision and LA Network Manager, and setup is now far simpler than before,” Oyama says. “We can prepare settings on a laptop in advance and simply load that data on the day, which shortens the time needed for set-up. Even when a client asks to use the hall widthways instead of our usual lengthways configuration, Soundvision means we can just update the amplifier settings and the room still sounds right. That’s especially true once the speakers are flown.”

Oyama put that workflow into practice ahead of Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo in March 2026, using Soundvision simulations to configure the hall for the show.

The permanent systems are tailored to the different requirements of the two rooms. Hall A is built around Kiva II, with two enclosures at centre and four per side left and right. Twenty flush-mounted X8i are distributed throughout the room, using their compact coaxial format to provide consistent coverage while keeping the visual footprint discreet.

Hall B uses two A10i Wide as its main system, selected for their wide dispersion to suit the room’s proportions. Two X8 provide side-fill for lateral monitoring, while 15 flush-mounted X8i maintain tonal consistency throughout the space.

For larger productions, the mobile system adds eight A10 Focus and four A10 Wide, allowing coverage to be extended or reshaped according to the event. Eight KS21 subwoofers provide additional low-frequency output, addressing one of the limitations of the previous system. The system is driven by seven LA12X amplified controllers alongside five LA4X, with management handled through LA Network Manager.

The operational advantages extend beyond system configuration. Yoshiki Ito, also of Pacific Art Center, points to the ease of handling and rigging as another benefit.

“Whether flown or stacked, the speakers are easy to handle and relatively quick to rig, so we find them very easy to operate,” he explains, “We’ve also noticed how well the permanent system integrates when we add the KS21 subwoofer for temporary use. Simply positioning it, recalling a preset and sending output is enough for the sound to come together properly.”

The combination of Soundvision-based preparation and angle-adjustable enclosures has also simplified changeovers, allowing Hikarie Hall’s own team to prepare configurations before handing operation over to external production crews with minimal explanation.

For a venue that needs to move rapidly between corporate events, receptions, fashion shows and other productions, that flexibility is already translating into more bookings. “We can now take on events requiring high volume levels that we would previously have had to decline,” Oyama said. “Since installing the L-Acoustics system, we feel we’re able to accommodate almost every request that comes our way.”

“With this installation, we can propose a flexible sound setup tailored to each event’s requirements,” Oyama concludes. “We want to keep responding fully to client requests and continue improving what our visitors experience.”