French rugby stadium sports new NEXO GEO S12 system

The stadium of French rugby union team USA Perpignan has been equipped with a NEXO GEO S12 sound system after the club was impressed by the audio quality at its neighbour’s stadium.

When the home of rugby league team the Catalans Dragons, the Stade Gilbert Brutus, in Perpignan, was redeveloped a few years ago, a NEXO GEO S12 sound system was fitted.

So when USA Perpignan decided to upgrade the audio system at the Stade Aimé Giral, it didn’t have to look far for inspiration.

Available in EN54-rated and long-throw versions, and in shallow or steeper tapering cabinets to allow for larger array angles, the two-way GEO S12 is a scalable loudspeaker module that displays a high-level MF-LF output from a single 12″ LF driver and NEXO’s Directivity Phase Device. NEXO’s unique Hyperboloid Reflective Wavesource allows coupled cabinets to radiate as coherent wavefronts, yielding precise pattern control in vertical or horizontal arrays.

The system, which was installed by local AV specialist Sud Media System, was designed by NEXO’s engineering support team using the company’s NS-1 system configuration software. An intuitive drag-and-drop interface includes all NEXO systems with measured speaker data processed along with mathematical data to predict SPL and delay coverage in 3D.

NS-1 combines full acoustical and mechanical computations along with tools for optimising curved vertical array design. A help section defines mechanical constraints to establish flown system safety, and generates reports for system dimensions, weight, gravity centre position, forces, moments, working load and safety factors.

The stadium’s Bonzoms Stand is covered by six clusters of three GEO S12s, supplemented by six NEXO P10 point-source loudspeakers covering the highest seats in the stand on a delay. Six clusters of four GEO S12s cover the West Stand, with seven P10s covering the smallest stand. Amplification and processing are provided by NEXO’s networkable NXAMPMk2-powered controllers.

The notoriously windy conditions in Perpignan required Sud Media System to manufacture custom brackets to attach the new enclosure clusters to the existing structures.

NEXO engineering support manager Carole Marsaud says: “The sound was great in all the stands, and we achieved excellent results for SPL and intelligibility.”

Other stadiums to have installed GEO S12 systems include Croke Park in Dublin, Optus Stadium in Perth and the French national stadium, Stade de France.