Located beneath the Pont Alexandre III, an arch bridge that spans the River Seine, Le Showcase is remarkable not only for its historic architecture, but also for its standing as one of the hottest entertainment venues in Paris. Providing powerful yet controlled sound reinforcement for Le Showcase's main performance area, restaurant/bar, and lounge are a range of Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers and the award-winning Galileoâ„¢ loudspeaker management system.
The main performance area is long, narrow, and highly reverberant, connected to the restaurant/bar and lounge areas by open stone arches. “The live room is like a stone tunnel, so the acoustics are difficult,” notes Julien Glabs, director of sound and mix engineer for Le Showcase. “We do rock music, so we need good impact and plenty of midrange. This Meyer Sound system gives us that.”
System design was accomplished under the direction of Sébastien Nicolas of Paris-based Best Audio. In the main performance venue, a concert system consisting of four MSL-4 loudspeakers was installed, augmented by six 600-HP subwoofers. The subwoofers are configured in two cardioid arrays that include three 600-HP cabinets each; two subwoofers are aimed at the audience, with the third facing the rear.
Two sets of delay loudspeakers are employed along the sidewalls, including a pair of UPA-1P loudspeakers and another pair of CQ-2 loudspeakers hung from the ceiling. The delay system also includes two floor-mounted 600-HP subwoofers for sufficient bass power.
The bar area and the lounge are amply handled by Meyer Sound UltraSeriesâ„¢ products. Six UPJ-1P VariOâ„¢ and five UPA-1P loudspeakers, along with two USW-1P subwoofers, cover the small stage and the dance floor in the bar area. The lounge is supported by seven UPJ-1P loudspeakers and five ceiling-mounted UMS-1P subwoofers.
While the loudspeaker systems deliver effective sound reinforcement for Le Showcase, Glabs and Nicolas report that the Galileo system helps solve a problematic challenge in the project: providing independent audio systems in each of three open spaces with the ability to operate them together from one control room.
Using two Galileo 616 processors, the operator can now easily manage the various audio zones and mix at one location. The Galileo system at Le Showcase is also equipped with the recently released Compassâ„¢ 2.1 control software, which offers a convenient graphical user interface. Two UPA-1P loudspeakers and one UMS-1P subwoofer act as monitors.
“The Galileo is very easy to work with,” Glabs states. “We control both units from one wireless computer, which lets us make changes and recall settings in seconds. The new Compass software upgrade is very powerful. It lets us copy and move each process and setting between units very easily.”
Nicolas also applauds the Galileo, a winner of the PAR Excellence Award: “The key to success at Le Showcase are the two Galileo 616 processors. You can have a different application in each space, or the same music at different levels, and change between setups very easily. Le Showcase was a big system design challenge, but the Galileo lets everything work together in any combination.”
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