A recent technical upgrade at the Espace Culturel Le Parc in Ribeauvillé featuring an all-digital Yamaha and Nexo audio installation has delivered a dramatic improvement to the venue’s sound quality and flexibility.
Located in the picturesque Alsace region of France, the Espace Culturel Le Parc is one of the region’s primary entertainment centres. Built in 1997 and run by the local municipality, the 580-seat venue hosts mainly live music and theatre, but also presentations and conferences. After 17 years of near-constant use, the audio system needed a significant upgrade because cables, connectors and other components required replacing, plus the PA was no longer sufficient to meet the demands of contemporary shows.
Supplied by audio specialist Lagoona, the new PA system comprises flown arrays of Nexo GEO S12 and S1230 loudspeakers, plus ground-stacked RS18 subs and PS10 R2 front fills. The system was originally envisaged without a digital network, but when Lagoona’s Guy Fischer worked out the difference in cost between conventional cabling versus a Dante digital network – plus all the other advantages the latter delivers – the design was swiftly changed.
“The availability of Dante, Yamaha’s CL series digital mixing consoles and Nexo amplifiers with integrated Dante cards meant that the opportunity to install a digital network, fully controllable from a Yamaha CL3, was too good not to take,” said Fischer. “The cabling for the system was significantly less expensive and elements of the system are far easier to move, when needed.”
At each side of the stage a rack contains a Yamaha R-series I/O unit, a Nexo NXAMP 4×4 for the flown cluster and subs that side and an Ethernet router, while an NXAMP 4×1 is dedicated to the PS10s. The total of 32 inputs and 16 outputs, plus the eight local inputs and outputs of the CL3, is enough for most productions, but the Ethernet routers allow straightforward integration of additional R-series I/O units if required.
The new system has already proved much better for the venue’s staff, as well as improving the experience for audiences.
“Now we can accommodate larger ‘electric’ performances without having to rent extra equipment,” said stage manager Cedric Keller. “One of the main aims of the new system to deliver more uniform coverage and it has definitely succeeded – the sound is clear, detailed and much better than before.
“The CL3 is perfect for this venue. We have programmed it with presets for the usual live music and theatre applications, as well as speech, video projections, conferences and so on. And, thanks to Yamaha’s Console File Converter software, we are happy for engineers to send their presets from other Yamaha consoles, which we can transfer to the CL3 in advance. On arrival they already have familiar set-up for their show, which they just have to refine. It saves a lot of time and works very well.”
