Les Salles du Carrousel, housed beneath the iconic glass pyramid of the Louvre in the heart of Paris, offers more than 71,00 square feet of modular interior space to cater for events of all types and sizes. As the site operator, Viparis has relied on the expertise of Magnum to deliver high-end audiovisual solutions that elevate the prestige and excellence of the events it hosts. When the time came to renew the audio systems, Magnum selected the new CCL (Compact Cardioid Line Array) system from d&b audiotechnik to elevate the venue’s audio offering while respecting both Viparis’ and Magnum’s stringent sustainability criteria.
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“The previous system, while functional, was over 10 years old, and starting to show signs of wear and tear,” explained Eduard Dubus, who heads up the technical team at Magnum. “We were looking to replace it with something more modern, and ideally visually discreet to cater for the wide variety of events held in Les Salles du Carrousel. After much discussion and several demos, it became clear that we didn’t need to look any further; the new CCL system from d&b was exactly what we needed.”
Magnum equipped three rooms with the new CCL system—Delorme and Le Nôtre, each accommodating up to 2,500 guests, and Gabriel, a smaller space situated directly behind Delorme that can be opened up to form one expansive hall. The challenge in all three spaces was a combination of low ceilings and reflective wooden floors, which generated unwanted sound reflections. Magnum also wanted a compact solution that required fewer loudspeakers than the previous point source system, which had been highly visible.
“Our new CCL system met all of Magnum’s requirements, significantly improving sound quality, intelligibility and visual impact,” said d&b’s technical project lead, Boris Jaquier-Laforge. “The superior directivity control and cardioid design, which means very little excitation behind the loudspeakers, has made an enormous difference to the sound quality in the Salles du Carrousel.”
Working closely with d&b, Magnum selected clusters of three CCL12s as the base configuration mounted on specially designed trusses that match the curvature of the ceiling. The same trusses also house the lighting equipment. The larger rooms benefit from seven clusters each, arranged in three rows of two down the length of the room, plus a central cluster. The smaller space has four clusters in two rows. All are powered by d&b D40 amplifiers.
“We preferred to have small clusters of just three boxes each to cover short distances as it makes the system much more modular and flexible and is much less visually imposing than larger arrays,” revealed Dubus. “The laser-precise directivity and the almost complete lack of backspill thanks to the cardioid design make this possible. We can really place the sound exactly where we want it and reflections have been significantly reduced.
“It’s been a journey for us, as the d&b workflow is very different to what we’ve been used to for the last decade or so,” Dubus continued, “but the results are excellent, as has been the service from d&b who have accompanied us every step of the way. We couldn’t have hoped for better.”
In addition to the CCL system, Magnum has also invested in 10 compact CCL-SUB subwoofers which are completely mobile, in addition to 20 44S frontfills and 10 versatile E8 loudspeakers that serve as stage monitors. Finally, Magnum also equipped the foyer area with five custom-painted 24C column loudspeakers for background music, announcements, and vocal reinforcement.
“Working with d&b has been a real pleasure,” confirmed Magnum’s deputy MD, Jean-Michel Lenoir. “They’ve not only fulfilled our technical requirements, but from a sustainability perspective, d&b has also shown they meet all our criteria. Sustainable development is a subject very close to our heart at Magnum, and it’s also a driving force for Viparis. I’m delighted that d&b takes the subject as seriously as we do, and I look forward to further successful collaboration in the future.”