New Marseille ice stadium installs Electro-Voice EVA

The newly-constructed Palais Omnisports Marseille Grand-Est occupies some 20,000 square metres and incorporates facilities for a variety of different sports – in particular ice-skating, for which a 5,600-seater stadium has been provided.

Marseille-based Objectif Plus was commissioned to design and install the stadium’s sound reinforcement system with an overriding priority of combating the hall’s long reverberation time.

“Obtaining clearly intelligible sound under such conditions posed a real challenge,” says Jean Marandet, product & service manager with EVI Audio France, “especially since the budget for the project was relatively modest. It was necessary, therefore, to find a solution capable of providing sound reinforcement of the requisite quality that at the same time represented exceptionally good value for money.”

After comparing various options, the stadium management chose an Expandable Vertical Array (EVA) system from Electro-Voice. The system installed comprises 26 EVA-2082S two-way array elements featuring two different dispersion patterns (90° x 6° and 120° x 20°). The elements are flown in six arrays of four and five elements respectively – all in the same central location beneath the ceiling – and between them they provide 360° coverage. The EVA systems are complemented by two EVID 6.2 loudspeakers in the VIP lounges. The loudspeakers are driven by four TG7 power amplifiers equipped with RCM-26 modules to allow remote control and supervision. Three CP3000S amplifiers and one PA2250T deliver added power and headroom. A Dx46 system processor operated using IRIS-Net software governs the entire installation, while the RCM-26 modules mean that every individual signal can be controlled and monitored separately.

Electro-Voice equipment has also been selected for installation in the adjacent skating park. A total of six Electro-Voice PX1152M two-way monitors have deployed in passive mode as down-fill.

Marandet sums up: “This is in fact the first time an EVA system has been installed in a French ice rink, but the outstanding performance of the Marseille system, we are pleased to note, has not gone unnoticed. In fact, the operators of a number of other French ice stadiums have already contacted us.”