Berkeley, CA (January 27, 2026)—Zellerbach Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, home to Cal Performances, has upgraded to the next-generation Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system.
The upgrade—which expands the venue’s 2006 installation of the first Constellation system with broader coverage, finer control and an improved stage tuning—was designed by Meyer Sound’s project team; voiced by John Pellowe, Meyer Sound’s project director, Constellation systems and Pierre Germain, Constellation director; and installed by San Francisco-based AV integrator BugID.
With its sweeping balconies, deep overhangs and concrete massing, Zellerbach Hall embodies the functionalism of its era. The renewed Constellation system is designed to work within that architecture, providing the precision and adaptability needed to support a wide range of performances.
Built around Meyer Sound’s Nadia integrated digital audio platform, the upgraded system incorporates 110 UP-4slim ultracompact installation loudspeakers, 22 Ultra-X20 and 16 ULTRA-X20XP compact point source loudspeakers, 12 Ashby-8C and 12 Ashby-5C ceiling loudspeakers, powered by two Nadia-CP core processors and 14 Nadia-AO16 16-channel processors.
• Colorado Church Gets New P.A. Upgrade
Germain, who led the system design, notes, “Instead of one VRAS processor for early reflections on stage, there are now four of them, allowing us to split the stage into quadrants. This expansion allows more nuanced shaping of the onstage acoustic field, where musicians depend on early-reflection cues to hear across ensemble sections.” The Nadia platform also gives Zellerbach new sound-design flexibility with support for Meyer Sound’s Spacemap Go spatial sound design and mixing tool.
Discover more great stories—get a free Mix SmartBrief subscription!
As the installation progressed, the physical complexity of the project became clear, says BugID owner Matt Lavine. “Zellerbach is a challenging building—concrete everywhere, tight timelines, and multiple agencies involved—but the collaboration with Meyer Sound made precision possible where it mattered most.” That precision carried through every stage, he adds: “Constellation installs require a bit of back and forth. Precision is key; the relationship of the speakers to the microphones is so critical.”