Outline at Theatre National de Strasbourg
France’s second most important theatre’s sound has the Outline brand
Strasburg, France, June 2009 – An Outline loudspeaker system made up of Doppia II point source enclosures has been chosen as the sound reinforcement system for Theatre National de Strasbourg, France’s second most famous theatre, located in a luxurious building in the city’s so-called imperial district.
A member of the UTE (Union of Theatres of Europe), the TNS has an international image and boasts an extremely modern organization; it has had the status of “National Theatre” since 1972 and is the only one of the five theatres with this classification outside the French capital.
With fifteen to twenty productions per season and approximately two hundred performances per year, it is an exceptional theatre all-round and offers a busy highly interesting program. The TNS hosts a permanent theatre company, the Ecole Suprieure d'Art dramatique drama school and two halls for shows. This set-up is completed by the Studio Kabl, with two supplementary halls, rehearsal and work rooms and administration facilities, as well as scenography and costume workshops.
The new Outline system debuted on the occasion of the first of Hamlet, in the Bernard-Marie Kolts hall (with Matthias Langhoff).
The TNS hosts four permanently installed Doppia II 9075 systems, supported by four DVS 118 SW subs (all in groups of two, for the dress and upper circles). Two Doppia II 5040 (with a longer throw) cover the stage and four Outline DVS 10 multi-purpose enclosures (also in groups of two) are used for the orchestra and as a centre cluster respectively.
Signal amplification and processing is entrusted to eight Outline T5 power amplifiers. The work of installation and fine tuning was carried out by Outline’s exclusive French distributor AUDIO (www.outline.audio2.fr), along with associate firm Scne de Nuit.
Didier Rupin of AUDIO comments: “The expectations were not easy to satisfy, as they were high from many points of view: acoustic, technical and aesthetic. But the distinctive characteristics of Outline products were able to provide TNS technical staff all the responses. One of the most important aspects of the client’s brief was to achieve outstandingly uniform sound, which had to be very well balanced at all sound pressure levels: here too the result was achieved. The TNS audio team, led by Caroll Duthrage, also specified the need for centralized control of the amplifiers, as well as the digital inputs, and the new Outline T5 power amplifiers, equipped with Ethernet port and DSP card, ensured the solution: they are all controlled by a single PC via (dedicated) software, which enables everything to be kept under control, including phase alignment, a function the team of TNS sound engineers puts to good use.”
