France’s National Theatre, the Hexagon, has been a challenging space for sound reinforcement since it was built in 1976, has been outfitted with a new distributed sound reinforcement system with Adamson Systems Point Series loudspeakers.
The hexagonal-shaped room, with a seating capacity of 560, hosts 35 shows each season. It also regularly offers arts community training programs, conferences and debates.
Olivier Delpeuch, sound engineer and head of the audio department at the Hexagon, underwent a search for a sound reinforcement upgrade, ultimately opting for a distributed system. The solution was jointly developed by Adamson Systems’ French distributor DV2 and sound company Music Plus. Antoine Maurel, project manager at Music Plus headed up the installation of the system.
The system is designed for flexibility, allowing it to be adjusted to the specific needs of each performance. The loudspeaker complement is made up of ten Point 12 and six Point 8 loudspeakers powered by a Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q and C48:8 amplifiers, with a Lake LM44 for processing.
Point Series loudspeakers employ the same large diaphragm compression drivers found throughout Adamson’s touring product range. The Point 12 is available with 40- x 20-degree and 60- x 40-degree (H x V) rotatable waveguides for flexibility in constructing point-source arrays. The smaller Point 8 loudspeaker is available with a 90- x 60-degree (H x V) rotatable waveguide.
The two-way enclosures also include Adamson’s proprietary Side Lock Revolver (SLR) Rigging System that provides built-in sockets for both vertical and horizontal arraying methods.
“The audio quality and flexibility of the system is what really sold me,” Delpeuch states. “Not only does it sound fantastic, but it is incredibly versatile. The loudspeakers are light enough that we can easily rearrange them to accommodate the needs of each show. It fits the requirements for this room perfectly.”