VENDOME, France – The Minotaure performance arts complex recently adopted a new Outline sound reinforcement system, including 12 Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. speakers and two SubTech 218 SP subwoofers, controlled by an Outline Genius 26 unit.
Located in the center of Vendôme, the complex has a total area of 1,500 square meters, including a 769-seat theatre hall, a 400-seat multi-purpose hall, several smaller meeting rooms and a naturally-illuminated foyer for exhibitions. Le Minotaure was inaugurated in 2002 and has hosted numerous shows since, including music, theatre and dance.
Despite the venue's prominence and range of performances staged there, the theater hall suffered from poor acoustics. Critics said the coverage was uneven and the stereo image was unbalanced. Last year, the venue's management opted to replace the front of house reinforcement system.
After reviewing several systems, a Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. vertical line array was chosen. The system, which had been lent for evaluation by Outline's French distributor, Audio2, passed listening tests and the theatre hall now hosts six elements per side, plus two SubTech 218 SP subwoofers and a Genius 26 controller.
The Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. is a bi-amped speaker enclosure equipped with a Double Parabolic Reflective Wave Guide (D.P.R.W.G.), which lets engineers adjust the horizontal directivity angle between 60° and 150° in 15° increments. It is equipped with two high frequency transducers (compression drivers with a 1.75-inch diaphragm) and four low-mid (5-inch diameter) transducers.
The SubTech 218 SP subwoofer is fitted with two 18-inch loudspeakers in separate chambers. The Genius 26 processor (2-input, 6-output) operates at 24-bit/96 kHz, and implements many types of filters, with slopes of up to 24 dB/octave, and eight EQs with 2 shelving and 6 parametric bands each, plus limiters on every output.
Sébastien Bargue, who works for Scène de Nuit, the contractor that supplied and installed the system, said the Mini-COM.P.A.S.S.' asymmetrical variable horizontal directivity was a key selling point. "Being able to control the dispersion is very important in halls with poor acoustics or inadequate treatment. The product solves this problem and gives a true stereo image, which is pretty rare for this kind of system," he said.
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