City installs hearing system at Van Wezel

The city of Sarasota has installed the first hearing loop system in the area at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center.

The "induction loop" system magnetically transmits sound to hearing aids and cochlear implants with telecoils (T-coils). The hearing loop system transmits performers’ voices from the stage microphone directly into a hearing aid or cochlear implant equipped with telecoils for clear sound, allowing wearers to use hearing aids as wireless loudspeakers.

The copper wire of the Van Wezel’s hearing loop is placed at floor height of the hall. A loop driver drives the electromagnetic field, which allows a hearing aid or cochlear implant’s T-coil to function as an antenna directly linking the listener to the Van Wezel’s sound system. This system complements the hall’s existing infrared hearing system.

Sertoma Sarasota paid for the hearing loop system with an undisclosed donation.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].