APG meets challenge of Bayeux aquatic centre
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Opened in 2019, Auréo is an aquatic centre combining multiple swimming pools with a 515sq.m ‘wellness area’ featuring saunas, a jacuzzi, a salt cave and a balneotherapy pool. The 2,300m², €12.6m complex is the only municipal swimming pool serving the nearly 15,000 residents of the district after the previous piscine de Bayeux closed a year earlier.
When it came time to upgrade the aquatic centre’s AV system, the previous installation having not lived up to expectations, the town of Bayeux selected local system integrator Music Light, a long-term partner of both Bayeux and APG. “We have already equipped various locations in Bayeux with APG, so our client had references and was already familiar with the quality of the products proposed,” comments Gaëtan Potier, Music Light’s managing director.
After conducting an acoustic and technical study, Music Light specified a total of 12 column-shaped install dedicated APG MC2C speakers for Auréo, which are installed across three zones: four loudspeakers in the leisure pool, six in the sports pool, and two in the wellness area.
Music Light has worked with APG since 2010 (it was “love at first sight for my ears”, jokes Potier) and the company was able to draw on past experience to tackle the most challenging aspect of the Auréo install: the high ambient temperature and humidity presented by an indoor swimming pool. To solve this problem, “APG coated the enclosures with stainless steel fittings to ensure that the products would not deteriorate in the years to come,” Potier explains. “We equipped a stadium with MC2s a few years ago with the same process and to this day all speakers have performed flawlessly without the need for any servicing.”
Potier explains that he turned to the MC2 series both for its versatility, being perfectly suited for a wide range of install applications, and its innovative design - which takes advantage of the d'Appolito principle to enable directivity control without the use of a horn, making it one of the most efficient products in its category, especially for vocal applications and low-power distributed sound.
“The MC2 speakers are very well suited for a number of venues, including social, sports and cultural venues. The deep range of models makes these loudspeakers perfect for each type of venue,” Potier comments, “as does the possibility of making them IP55, on a 100V line, with a bespoke RAL colour. The d’Appolito design gives a comfort of listening and great intelligibility in a large range of uses - music and voice - whether coupled with a subwoofer or not.”
Matthieu Barey, director of the Centre aquatique Auréo, says a recent ‘aquaciné’ movie event at the pool was a perfect demonstration of the strengths of the new sound system. “The cinema director and his technician, who is used to open-air cinemas, were both pleasantly surprised by the sharpness and clarity of the sound and the power of the system,” he comments.
Other AV equipment used for the Auréo project includes a Shure QLX-D wireless system and Rane Terminal 1010x audio matrix. Amplification comes courtesy of a Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D, which drives the APG speakers via the 100V line. Music Light also used Powersoft’s ArmoníaPlus software for amplification control.
"We are delighted with the service and the installation in a humid environment which was not designed for optimised acoustics,” concludes Auréo’s Barey. “The difference compared to the old system is impressive, and the sharpness of the sound is amazing.”
