At the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris, September saw the 20th anniversary re-opening of the updated Great Gallery of Evolution space featuring an install of site-specific custom-designed Amadeus speakers.
The museum installation features an assortment of Amadeus speaker and sub-woofer models to offer the public a Hi-Fi audio experience throughout the vast museum. Merging Technologies, Solid State Logic and Flux also added key ingredients to the new museum installation to control the Amadeus speakers.
Amadeus’ Director of Research & Development, Michel Deluc, and designer Bernard Byk, created completely new speaker and subwoofer configurations for the massive, over 180-speaker, sound system installation at the National Museum of Natural History. The new speaker design has extended the Amadeus PMX Series with a super-compact 4-inch coaxial driver model, the PMX 4.
Bernard Byk and Michel Deluc also designed two new compact sub-woofers specifically for the installation, the ML 8, and the ML 12 SLIM, with 8-inch and 12-inch drivers respectively. The ML 8 is the smallest of the Amadeus ML Series of subwoofers; likewise the PMX 4 is the smallest of its series. Custom-made product manufacturing, solving acoustical or technical issues, and addressing market demands, are all strong traditions at Amadeus, and the large and complex Museum of Natural History installation is an excellent example.
The previously released PMX 5, 5-inch driver model, was also used in the museum installation with special finishes of high-gloss ‘Oyster White’ for the cabinet and a ‘Pearl Gold’ finish for the AirTex fabric for the speaker protection grill to specifically match the color of the main ceilings of the Museum. Additionally, a modified ML 12 subwoofer, (named the ML 12 SLIM), was re-designed as a slimmer version to be built-in some of the museum’s high-walled cabinets that were not deep enough to hold the standard ML model.
Several of the new ML subwoofers are installed in prominent locations that the public can see and feature an attractive natural Beech wood exterior, matching the paired PMX 4 speakers in Beech wood. All the updated or newly created products, including the PMX 4 and ML 8 subwoofer, are now available for other installs as standard parts of the PMX and ML series Amadeus product lines.
On the amplification side, Amadeus developed and launched two prototypes, the MULTIAMP and A Series, to match the needs of the museum installation. These two new Amadeus Amplifier Series extend, complete, and perfect the ‘HI-FI’ dimension and sound of the Amadeus speaker products. They integrate carefully listened to and selected components from among the most efficient and transparent of the audiophile market.
I tested many small and light speakers (weight was a major security issue) sold by well-known brands. I then turned towards PA systems. Leaving aside the brands whose systems didn’t meet relevant specifications – dispersion quality, frequency range, and impulse response around the speaker – I finally got in touch with Amadeus, a company I already revered for its high-quality PA products. I didn’t know they made small speakers, but I had used Amadeus products as I gave training seminars about controlled directivity, and during many shows and concerts, not to mention an acoustical study for the auditorium at Chelles (a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris).
explains Marc Piera, co-founder and CEO of Comportements Sonores and scenographer for the museum installation.
The audio sound tracks created by Frédéric Rocard are based on natural ambient sounds, from thunderstorms to delicate ambiences, a tribute to the rich timbres and dynamic levels of all animal species shown in the Gallery. Dynamic margins between background noise level and reasonable listening levels is reduced. It was then mandatory to find how to best place the Amadeus loudspeakers to get an excellent covering in the public spaces, and to design a system with a high-quality stereo image faithful to the complex ambiences. Another key point to accomplish was that no spectrum changes would occur off-axis. In the end, 186 Amadeus sound sources were installed, including 28 subwoofers.
reveals Marc Piera.
Merging was excited by the opportunity to work on this project, of an unprecedented scope for our product Ovation. We were equally pleased to note that the set-up, comprising 186 loudspeakers across seven zones, connected to two Horus converters, all handled by a single Ovation, worked without a hitch. We nevertheless learned a great deal from this installation and identified several ways in which our user interface could be enhanced. That’s the reason why these projects are so inspiring. We look forward to participating in many more alongside Amadeus in the future.
comments Dominique Brulhart, Head Software Engineering at Merging Technologies.
Management of the Amadeus speakers through Merging Technologies devices features specially designed software plug-ins for the museum installation which can control dynamic EQ, expander/gate functions, as well as compressor and limiter capabilities for each of the Amadeus speakers individually. The Merging Technologies Loudspeaker Management System that was created is 100% Amadeus compatible and can easily be used in future installs
adds Dominique Brulhart.
The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution (Great Gallery of Evolution) is a more than 60-thousand cubic meter area. It is split into several public spaces: the first is 3,500 sq. meters by 2.5 meters high, the second, 2300 sq. meters by 15 meters high, plus 3 passageways – 1100 sq. meters each. Since the Gallery is a museum, there are many children’s groups and families attending, so the background noise levels are often between 55 and 70dB (A). The Gallery is also a conservation area - implying mandatory demands of integration of sound quality and other limitations.
The Amadeus PMX 5, then the smallest speaker of the range, was too heavy to use everywhere. Amadeus quickly suggested that they design a variant offering the same sonic qualities but with a reduced weight. They created a prototype of the PMX 4, and after we tested and measured this new model in situ, it appeared it could be used to send sound in the passageways, with very high quality. Using a very tight distribution I got an incredible sound image and the finest details along these long corridors exactly as I had wanted.
adds Marc Piera.
However, in some parts of the installation the existing PMX 5 model turned out to be best. The PMX 5’s attenuation is even and its coaxial speaker shows an excellent impulse response which helps to reduce ceiling reflections, continued Marc Piera. Eighteen Amadeus ML 12 subwoofers, distributed around the passageways, handle bass extension. Referring to the tight space for some subwoofer positioning he says, Amadeus was able to fulfill the integration needs with a thinner version of subwoofer, the ML 12 SLIM. We set the crossover frequency between the PMX 5 speakers and ML 12 SLIM subwoofers at 90Hz, allowing us to reduce localization problems.
This kind of integration job, filled with aesthetic taboos and security issues, requires not only very high-quality products, but also deeply involved partners. Amadeus really was exemplary in that matter, and this contributed to the final success of the project. Their commitment even led the company to create specific RAL colors and wood finishes, putting the final distinguishing touches on this successful integration. And, as if all this was not enough, Amadeus even developed the amplifier system to deal with these 186 independent speaker lines. Solid State Logic interfaced the system, and Merging Technologies dealt with the programming side using their Ovation system, even adapting their product for us, on the practical and ergonomic side. The system filtering issues were handled by Flux, Merging Technologies’ long-time partner.
concludes Marc Piera.
The Amadeus speaker models installed at the Museum:
Amadeus PMX 4in natural Beechwood finish: 16 pieces
Amadeus PMX 4 in Traffic Grey finish: 36 pieces
Amadeus ML 8 in natural Beechwood finish: 5 pieces
Amadeus PMX 5 MKIII in Oyster White & Pearl Gold finishes: 106 pieces
Amadeus ML 12 MKII: 2 pieces
Amadeus ML 12 SLIM: 18 pieces
