Paris, France | December, 2013 - State-owned French radio and television broadcaster France Télévisions Publicité is one of the of the largest journalistic organizations in France, and as a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1950, one of the longest-standing. The station's Paris studio recently installed a Renkus-Heinz loudspeaker system for its screening and presentation room.

Created by sound designer Terry Nelson of Switzerland-based Studio Equipment company, the new loudspeakers were installed by the studio's technical director Christophe Scherrer and head of technology Toni Livaudais as a dedicated speech system, replacing the studio's previous arrangement of running podium presentation microphones through the room's surround loudspeaker system.

"It was always a problematic arrangement," says Nelson. "There were constant problems with feedback, and the podium itself has a strong acoustic resonance. But the aesthetics of a new system were also very important. They wanted a discrete but very clear-sounding audio system that would also deal with the room's acoustical issues."

Nelson initially specified two compact Renkus-Heinz TRX61 complex conic systems to be mounted on the opposing surfaces of a pillar at the entrance to the room: one to the side of the screen and facing into the room and another for an ‘overspill' seating area to stage right. The team also upgraded the existing loudspeaker processor to a Klark Teknik DN9848 to serve both the screen system and the new speech system.

"The TRX61s are ideally suited for this installation," says Nelson. "Their coverage is nicely focused, and they blend in well with the room. People have commented on their very natural sound, especially with voices. This was especially important, as the station has to deal with all kinds of presenters and interviewees, both professional and inexperienced."

Nelson reports the client was quite happy with just two TRX61s but later requested an additional two speakers to broaden the coverage. "It's a small project but we think of it as quite a success story, especially as Toni is a total sound fanatic."