Beam-Steered Audio Brings Clarity to Mercedes-Benz Singapore’s Glass-Walled Showroom

With Asia’s luxury car market expanding rapidly, Mercedes-Benz, in partnership with its exclusive Singapore distributor JARDINE CYCLE & CARRIAGE launched its first "Metropolitan Concept" Centre outside of Europe in Singapore. Designed not only as a premium vehicle showroom, the centre aims to deliver a fully immersive brand experience through architecture, technology, and lifestyle integration.

Strategically located in Singapore’s automotive belt, the 18,600-square-metre Mercedes-Benz Centre offers more than 40 showroom vehicles, after-sales services, a Mercedes boutique, café, and children’s play area. It also features a dome-shaped Brand Gallery and Event Hall capable of hosting over 1,000 guests for lifestyle events, exhibitions, and brand showcases.

The Audio Challenge

While the architectural design is visually stunning—with 600 glazed windows, tiled floors, and marble walls over three interconnecting levels—it posed a serious acoustic challenge. Early installations in similar European centres had already revealed the difficulty of sound reinforcement in such reverberant environments.

General Manager Eric Chan knew from the outset that the audio system needed to deliver both transparent music playback and clear speech intelligibility during events, without visually disrupting the centre’s sleek design.

Delivering Clear Sound in a Glass-and-Marble Showroom

To overcome the acoustic complexities, Control Logic Systems, now part of Ideal Systems SEA, was selected to deliver a custom-engineered solution. The project was led by David Seow, who brought deep expertise in beam-steered audio and DSP tuning.

Specifically commissioned for its expertise in Duran Audio’s Intellivox speakers, the team implemented a focused and flexible solution:

  • David deployed Duran Audio Intellivox DC115 loudspeakers, renowned for their precise vertical beam control and wide horizontal dispersion. Despite their compact size, the DC115 units offer:

    • Digitally steerable beams

    • Wide horizontal dispersion

    • Onboard DSP and 32-bit floating-point processing

    • Control via WinControl software

    • Consistent SPL coverage up to 15 metres

    • Integrated Class-D amplification and parametric EQ

David Seow personally configured the Intellivox DC115 on site. The model is typically used as a "fill system" in larger installations and is ideal for vocal reinforcement in reverberant spaces, such as houses of worship or transport hubs. Its discreet housing avoids projecting energy onto reflective surfaces, helping maintain clarity.

  • Six DC 2.0 speakers were also installed across two key display areas, including the Event Hall and Brand Gallery. These can be repositioned on speaker stands when needed, offering flexibility for events.

  • Traditional portable sound systems were ruled out due to excessive reverb and noise spill. Instead, 120 100V line ceiling speakers, zone-controlled (10 zones), were installed for low-level background use.

Results & Impact

Mercedes-Benz Singapore now hosts premium events with other lifestyle brands such as Samsung and TAG Heuer, where clear, powerful audio is a must. Thanks to beam-steered Intellivox solution, the centre delivers:

  • Crystal-clear sound without visual or acoustic disruption

  • Effective audio coverage even in highly reflective architectural spaces

  • Seamless integration with the centre’s branding and customer experience goals

As Eric Chan put it:

“With a large audience, you need a powerful but intelligible PA system... As soon as I heard the demonstration using the Intellivox speakers, I knew we had found a solution.”

Source: This case study is based on a feature originally published in Pro Audio Asia (Nov-Dec 2006) editions, now Pro AVL Asia.

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