RCF’s HDL Series Delivers at Salle Simone Veil

Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, France - The journey of the Simone Veil multi-purpose hall began in September 2020, with the laying of its first stone. This ambitious project aimed to address the growing cultural needs of the town’s 18,000 residents. On Friday, September 20, the hall opened its doors to the public in a grand inauguration ceremony, symbolizing a new chapter for the community. “This major project has breathed new life into the town,” explained Mouren during the initial groundbreaking, highlighting how the facility would alleviate the strain on existing, limited-capacity venues. Previously, the gymnasium was often repurposed for non-sporting events, disrupting community activities and driving up costs for ground protection, logistics, and rental equipment.

The newly completed 1,000-square-meter hall offers remarkable flexibility, with seating capacities for 1,024 people or mixed configurations for up to 1,499, and a full standing arrangement for 2,800 attendees. Designed by the Duchier Pietra architectural firm and Chaterine Marquet scenographer, the space emphasizes modularity, even allowing the room to split into two independent halves, each accommodating 524 guests. This versatility ensures the venue can handle a wide variety of events, from cultural showcases to large-scale gatherings.
 
To match this level of sophistication, the hall required a state-of-the-art sound system, and Dushow, an installer based in Southeast France, stepped in to deliver. With the hall’s technical team already familiar with RCF and particularly impressed by the HDL 30-A after attending a demo in Marseille in 2021, the choice was clear. The main requirements were stringent: all equipment had to be flown, avoiding any ground-based setups; a central cluster was needed instead of traditional front fills; and the system needed to handle 90% of typical usage scenarios, with the flexibility to add subs for extra bass when required.
 
Dushow collaborated closely with RCF France, and the project was entrusted to Yannick Dahms, application engineer for RCF France. Initially, Dahms imagined “a traditional two-hang design with separate arrays for subs and line arrays. However, with only one rigging point available per side, I reconfigured the system, using RCF’s HDL 38-AS flyable subs paired with HDL 30-A arrays. This design is typical in many extensive worship places with live music. Three HDL 38-AS speakers per side proved to be the correct number for the best performance. Also, in the acoustics of the quite reverberant room, the HDL 38-AS played better than infra-heavy subs like SUB 9006-AS, giving punch and definition instead of uncontrolled infra waves bouncing everywhere.”
 
The final configuration featured two side clusters, each comprising six HDL 30-A modules and three HDL 38-AS flyable subs, a central cluster with three HDL 26-A modules for the front rows, and eight NX 15-SMA as stage monitors. The RCF France team provided the RDNet project design, ensuring seamless system connectivity and management. Dahms then visited the venue to train the local team and fine-tune the system.
 
“The results exceeded my expectations,” admitted Dahms. “Despite my initial skepticism about the HDL 38-AS, the bass response proved more than adequate, even for full-range concerts. I even told the local team they might need to rent additional subs for bass-heavy events. But after hearing it in the venue, I changed my mind.”
 
The feedback from both the hall’s technical team and Dushow was overwhelmingly positive. “We were very satisfied by the demo in Marseille,” said Philippe Viguier, director of the venue. “Hearing the system now, with tailored tuning for the venue, makes us proud of the result. This system perfectly fits our needs in terms of cost, power, sound quality, and ease of use.”
 
Christophe Ferrari, project manager for Dushow echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the system’s compact design and impressive performance. “We didn’t expect this precision and definition from such a lightweight system. The vocal clarity is remarkable, with great intelligibility throughout the venue, and the full-range musical power is more than enough for even the most demanding artists. The HDL 30-A truly surprised us, and the flexibility of RDNet management software is seamlessly impressive.”