Bespoke Sound

Amadeus works with an extensive palette of materials and fabrication techniques, selected according to the acoustic, architectural and environmental requirements of each project. Laser-cut COR-TEN steel, gold leaf, phosphor bronze mesh, weatherproof Corian®, and micro-coatings of lime and stone powder matched to historic surfaces all have their place in the projects that follow.

Sometimes the most sophisticated integration is the one that cannot be seen.

At Domaine des Étangs, 32 coaxial loudspeakers disappear into the purlins of a timber roof structure, while eight subwoofers are flush-mounted into stone walls and two further enclosures are concealed beneath the mezzanines. The result is a 44-loudspeaker immersive system with no visible components.

The relationship between sound and its surroundings can also be expressed through subtle cultural references.

For the Maison Krug tasting room, the Maison's monogram is laser-perforated into the COR-TEN steel façade.

At Mas des Fées in the South of France, bespoke COR-TEN loudspeakers sit on pedestals inspired by Basque sculptor Jorge Oteiza, whose works inhabit the estate. In-ground Corian® subwoofers complete the permanent 5.1 system, conceived as part of the landscape.

In some projects, the loudspeaker is conceived as a design object, becoming part of the architectural language of the space.

The Philharmonia was originally commissioned for the recording studios of the Philharmonie de Paris, in collaboration with architect Jean Nouvel. Its cabinet is composed of 547 individually machined birch veneers. A passive version was subsequently developed for residential environments.

Outdoor projects introduce a specific set of constraints. Weather, temperature, UV exposure and open-air propagation must be considered alongside the landscape itself.

The VK 18 is a folded-horn subwoofer fabricated in Corian® and installed below ground, leaving only a flush opening visible at the surface. It delivers 98 dB sensitivity, 134 dB peak SPL, and extension to 26 Hz in open air.

For Philippe Parreno's Membrane at Fondation Beyeler, Amadeus developed a bespoke outdoor system conceived as a single monolithic stack, built in Corian® and fitted with custom weatherproof transducers. It combines a horn-loaded point-source section with a low-frequency enclosure housing three 15-inch drivers in a 300-litre cabinet. Installed on the museum's outdoor deck beside Parreno's 14-metre tower, the system produces infra-low frequencies alongside vocal-like sonic textures — functioning as a voice projection device for the work rather than a conventional loudspeaker.

Historic architecture requires a particular form of discretion. Acoustic performance must coexist with strict conservation requirements, often without permanent intervention in the building.

At the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, a 13th-century Gothic monument, 15 bespoke loudspeakers were installed for Robert Wilson's Gloria. Eight were covered in gold leaf, matched to the architectural polychromy of the chapel to vanish into the decorative programme of the vaulting. Several units were suspended from the historic roof structure by stainless steel cables of nearly twenty metres, stabilised by nylon wires threaded through the vaulting with no permanent fixings to the stonework.

At the Théâtre de l'Archevêché in Aix-en-Provence, a UNESCO-listed open-air theatre, 52 loudspeakers were installed for Mozart's Idomeneo conducted by Raphaël Pichon. Several units were coated in natural stone powder matched to the historic walls, a finish developed specifically to satisfy the heritage protection conditions of the site. The system combined active acoustics and Wave Field Synthesis spatialisation, with independent reverberation processing for the soloists, chorus and orchestra.

For the Panthéon in Paris, 70 loudspeakers were made invisible through a micro-coating of lime, stone powder and resins matched to the stonework. Commissioned for the 2020 Armistice Day ceremony presided by President Macron, the installation required every acoustic and physical intervention to be fully reversible and invisible upon inspection.

Bespoke design can also begin when the conventional loudspeaker enclosure disappears altogether.

For Mélissa Von Vépy's production Piano Rubato, performed at the Festival d'Avignon and other venues, Amadeus engineered a sound system built into a grand piano installed within the hull of a five-metre-high boat sculpture. The structure rotates through 360° and oscillates through 180°, activated by the performer's breath via a counterweight mechanism.

The system had to deliver high-quality sound reinforcement while being permanently mounted in an aerial rigging apparatus subject to constant rotation, mechanical stress and strict weight limits. It also had to adapt acoustically to theatres, open-air spaces and industrial halls without being reconfigured for each performance.

A very different environment shaped the system developed for OWD, a 100-metre private motor yacht with interiors by Studio Liaigre, Amadeus developed a two-way loudspeaker adapted from the Philharmonia, with a compression driver on a solid-machined horn replacing the dome tweeter.

This choice was driven by the acoustic conditions on board: reflective surfaces, long throw distances, and continuous structural vibration. The low-frequency section uses passive radiators in a sealed enclosure, removing the rear port and the parasitic reflections it would introduce in a moving environment.

Several recent projects have extended the system beyond conventional loudspeakers, exploring the relationship between sound, the body and physical sensation.

Amadeus also contributed to the electroacoustic design of the Elusis Portal, an immersive wellness capsule developed in collaboration with Elusis and HOLOPHONIX. Combining spatial audio, vibroacoustics and EEG biofeedback, the system explores new applications of immersive audio for wellbeing. The first Portal was installed at the Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay.

Each Amadeus bespoke system brings together acoustic engineering, material expertise and craftsmanship in response to a singular place, architecture or artistic vision.

Whether discreetly integrated into the architecture or conceived as an object in its own right, the result reflects the same attention to sound, material and detail.