Played on clay, Roland-Garros (more commonly known as The French Open in the United States) is widely considered to be the most physically-demanding tournament of the big four tennis tournaments that take place every year. It is held in Paris at Roland Garros Stadium, a complex of three main courts with a total capacity of over 30,000 spectators. The largest of the courts, Court Philippe-Chatrier, was rebuilt between the 2018 and 2019 tournaments and now accommodates over 15,000 spectators. For the 2019 tournament, two Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn supported by four Danley THmini15 subwoofers covered Court Philippe-Chatrier’s seating cleanly and with unprecedented intelligibility.
“The sound reinforcement system at Roland Garros is used mainly for speech reinforcement for the referee, players and organizers, as well as for advertising and the national anthem,” explained Etienne Bérard, director of DEMOA, a French AV distribution company. The AV consultant on the project, CREAPRAG, asked DEMOA to find an efficient, high-intelligibility sound reinforcement system for the rebuilt stadium. Bérard modeled a Danley point-source system, relying on Danley’s full-fidelity, phase-coherent output to deliver the requested intelligibility.
“The client wanted a system that could fit into the relatively small niche that had been given for loudspeaker placement,” Bérard continued. “In addition, it had to be highly directional so as not to disturb the press room located just below the loudspeaker niche. I used Bose modeling software to propose a system using a Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn, and we offered proof-of-concept with a demo up against a high-end line array. The Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn showed vastly better intelligibility across its output pattern and 15dB greater rejection at the back of the speaker (at 500Hz). The CREAPRAG consultant expressed to the tournament officials that he had never experienced such phenomenal intelligibility at such distances and in such an environment (it measured around 0.75 STI at 60 meters).”
DEMOA rented the system from AV integration and live sound company Neuron Pro Audio of Manchester, UK, who installed, operated, and removed the temporary system. The four Danley THmini15 subwoofers (which, at 100 lbs. each, are only “mini” relative to the rest of Danley’s catalog) were placed left and right of the main LED screen, two each. Three Powersoft X4 amplifiers with integrated DSP powered and conditioned the Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn and the Danley THmini15 subwoofers.
“We received a lot of enthusiastic comments about the sound quality and power from such a modest-looking system,” Bérard reported. “The Danley subwoofers also made a good impression. They combined to deliver a surprising amount of bass for such a large venue.”
