The “Teatro Lirico” in Milan was built in 1779 on a proposal of Archduke Ferdinand, son of Maria Theresa of Austria, who wanted to provide the city with two theaters: The first, for the nobles, the “Teatro alla Scala”, and the second, for the common people, which after a troubled start in 1894 was definitively named “Teatro Lirico Internazionale”. Fallen into decline about 30 years ago, a new restoration project is almost complete to bring it back to life.
As happened for the recent renovation of the prestigious Galli Theater in Rimini, Link, through client Decima, has played a fundamental role in equipping the theater with highly technological and functional wiring and infrastructures.
Among the solutions provided by the Italian Company, the most innovative is certainly the one called “LKS Data System“. This technology consists of a range of products that integrate proprietary connectors belonging to the LK Connectors brand and defined, as the name suggests, LKS Data.
These connectors, paired with their corresponding Eurocable cables, provide a Socapex connection dimensionally equal to the “traditional” connectors and completely backwards compatible, but with the prerogative of integrating microcoaxial contacts in place of the grounding pins, while preserving the grounding continuity of the electrical circuits. This allows them to transmit, in addition to the 6 standard circuits of power, a Gigabit signal or 4 signals for digital audio or DMX, eliminating the use of separate cables.
Luca Opizzi of Link underlines the importance of the concept of backward compatibility: “For example, if a company decides not to use the DMX in the truss, the cables and connectors of the Teatro Lirico can still be used normally, exactly as if it were traditional Socapex connections."
In the project, Link was asked to supply a series of PLB and SCB boxes, hatches and customized panels for the rack rooms, all equipped with LKS Data technology for the distribution of power and data signals within the entire theater. Given their complexity, these systems would normally require the wiring of the connectors by Link‘s specialized technicians. If on the one hand, this guarantees high quality and reliability of the connections, on the other it could represent an objective difficulty in case of fixed installations where cables and connectors cannot be pre-assembled in the manufacturer’s facilities, thus requiring the presence of specialized technicians on site.
For this project Link decided to develop an innovative system to greatly simplify the wiring so as to allow the client’s technicians an easy and quick installation without any external help, thus granting them total freedom. The system consists of a simplified connection interface inside the boxes equipped with the LKS Data System. Specifically, all LKS Data connectors were pre-wired with common electrical terminal blocks and RJ45 sockets. In this way it was sufficient to insert and screw the power wires into the terminal block and, for the data connections, to crimp simple RJ45 connectors and connect them to pre-assembled PCB interfaces.
Alberto Virdis of Link says: “With this solution, we made wiring on-site easy and fast. By carrying out all the tests within our facilities and providing a pre-assembled “package”, we allowed Decima to be totally autonomous, even when installing a connector as peculiar as the LKS Data. This gave the client the opportunity to save a considerable amount of time and money.“
For many years, Link has been famous in the Entertainment Industry not only for its two historical brands Eurocable and LK Connectors, but also for being one of the most innovative companies, providing highly technological and customizable solutions and allowing customers to optimize installation times, the quantity of materials used and consequently also the costs.