Inside the Louvre Palace, in the heart of Paris and just a few steps from Place Vendôme, Les Salles du Carrousel is one of the most prestigious destinations in the capital for attending events and has been one of the first venues in Europe to install the new CCL system from d&b audiotechnik.
Selected by Magnum for its blend of power, precision, and architectural elegance, its advanced directivity control and cardioid technologies, the d&b CCL system delivers uncompromising clarity for every type of event in one of the most celebrated settings in the world.
Les Salles du Carrousel is located beneath the iconic glass pyramid of the Louvre, in the center of Paris, offering 6,635 m² of modular indoor space to host events of all types and sizes.
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Viparis is the company managing this venue and has relied for years on the expert advice of Magnum, one of France’s leading audiovisual providers, to deliver exclusive audiovisual solutions that enhance the prestige and excellence of the events it hosts.
When the time came to renew the audio system, Magnum chose the new CCL system (compact cardioid line array) from d&b audiotechnik to elevate the venue’s audio while also meeting the strict sustainability standards of Viparis and Magnum.
Although the previous system still worked well, it was over 10 years old and beginning to show signs of wear. We wanted to replace it with something more modern that would ideally remain discreet while accommodating the wide variety of events held at Les Salles du Carrousel. After much discussion and several demonstrations, it became clear that we could stop searching: the new d&b CCL system was exactly what we needed, explains Eduard Dubus, who leads the technical team at Magnum.
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Magnum equipped three spaces with the new CCL system: the Delorme and Le Nôtre rooms, each accommodating up to 2,500 guests, and the smaller Gabriel room, located behind Delorme, which can be opened up to form a single larger hall. In these three spaces, the challenge was a combination of low ceilings and reflective wooden floors that caused unwanted sound reflections. Magnum also sought a compact solution requiring fewer speakers than the previous point-source system, which was far more visible.
"The CCL system meets Magnum’s requirements and significantly enhances sound quality, intelligibility, and visual impact", explains Boris Jaquier-Laforge, d&b’s project technical director. "Its superior directivity control and cardioid design result in very little sound excitation behind the speaker and have made a huge difference in sound quality at Salles du Carrousel".
In direct collaboration with d&b, Magnum selected clusters of three CCL12s as the basic configuration, mounted on specially designed frames that follow the curvature of the ceiling. These same frames also house the lighting equipment. The larger rooms each feature seven clusters arranged in three rows, with two along the room’s length plus a central cluster. The smaller space has four clusters in two rows. All clusters are powered by d&b D40 amplifiers.
We prefer to use small clusters of just three cabinets each to cover short distances, as this makes the system much more modular and flexible and visually far less intrusive than larger arrays. The precise laser directivity and near-complete absence of backspill are achieved thanks to the cardioid design. We can now place sound precisely where we want it, and reflections have been significantly reduced. For us, it has been like a journey, as the ‘d&b Workflow’ is very different from what we’ve used over the past decade — but the results are excellent, as is d&b’s support, which has accompanied us every step of the way. We couldn’t have imagined anything better, says Dubus.
In addition to the CCL system, Magnum also invested in 10 compact, fully movable CCL-SUB subwoofers, along with 20 44S frontfills and 10 highly versatile E8 loudspeakers used as stage monitors. Finally, Magnum equipped the foyer area with five 24C column speakers, custom-painted, providing background music, announcements, and vocal reinforcement.
"Working with d&b has been an absolute pleasure", confirms Jean-Michel Lenoir, Deputy Managing Director at Magnum. "Not only did they fulfill our technical requirements, but d&b also proved that they met sustainability standards. Sustainable development is something we deeply care about at Magnum, and it’s also a driving force for Viparis. I’m very pleased that d&b takes this topic as seriously as we do, and I look forward to continuing our successful collaboration in the future".
