Amadeus DIVA XS speakers are the centerpiece of sound for the general assembly hall of the Korean Congress in Seoul’s National Assembly Hall 
Paris, France – December 22, 2014 – Through the diligent work of their South Korean distributor, Marshall Pro Sound, Inc., Amadeus speakers are now the centerpiece of sound for the Korean Congress in the general assembly hall within the National Assembly Hall building, located in the heart of the country’s capital of Seoul. During the past 10 years sound requirements for the entire The National Assembly building have been managed by Marshall Pro Sound, Inc. Because of the general assembly hall’s environment, the new system required both large hanging speakers and very compact yet high SPL speakers at the podiums. Marshall Pro Sound felt the Amadeus DIVA XS speakers were the perfect solution for the main hall, and Amadeus PMX suited the personal monitoring needs at each podium. The 28-speaker install at the National Assembly Hall is one of the largest and most prestigious in Asia for Amadeus.
Based in France, Amadeus has become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-end sound reinforcement systems for live and installed sound, as well as a premiere producer of custom studio speakers for recording studios. Amadeus is focused on the Asian and European markets with distributors in Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, China, UAE and the United Kingdom.
“Many of the project’s construction aspects were complicated by limitations in the architectural acoustics of the vast general assembly hall,” explains Marshall Pro Sound’s General Manager, Kwang Ho PARK. “However through a number of repeated design alterations, and painstaking tuning sessions after the speakers were installed, we were able to create a system offering excellent sound for this important Korean government institution. Amadeus was the right choice.”
The install at the National Assembly Hall is made up of a host of components interconnected to the main audio and video control room. The main speaker system consists of sixteen Amadeus DIVA XS array speakers, four Amadeus DIVA XS 15 bass complements and two Amadeus PMX 8 coaxial speakers covering the sides. On stage, the ‘Chairman’s’ monitor speaker system is made up of two of the compact Amadeus PMX 5 coaxial speakers. For the Podium monitor speaker setup the newly released ultra-compact Amadeus PMX 4 speakers were used. And in the control room, Marshall Pro Sound installed a pair of Amadeus PMX 5 speakers as well.
“At the beginning stage of the project we worried about the complicated structure of the semi-circle shaped ceiling and vast general assembly hall,” stated Jung Hee GU, the systems engineer in charge of setting up the sound system. “The position of speakers, which needed to be hidden in the sides of the front LED displays, created challenging architectural acoustics and needed sophisticated sound design. We were not sure that there would be enough sound pressure and coverage with the compact Amadeus DIVA XS speakers. But after repeated design alterations and simulations, with the completion of the install we were all very impressed with the quality of the Amadeus speakers.”
The DIVA XS is the small format line source system of the DIVA range. This 2-way active speaker (with passive filtering in 2.5 way for the low-mid loudspeaker) is associated with the DIVA XS 15 – used to extend the frequency response down to 35Hz (up to 110Hz). The DIVA XS is based on an asymmetrical ‘line array’ head, including an HF ensemble using a neodymium compression driver (diameter 1.75 inch, with an annular diaphragm). Midrange section uses two 5-inch diameter speakers, filtered separately. The DIVA XS’s natural frequency range is 80Hz to 20,000Hz.
The DIVA XS system is equipped with a patented waveguide for the high section. This waveguide has been optimized to get a vertical dispersion of 10° and an horizontal dispersion of 100°. This type of load ensures a perfectly uniform coverage and en excellent spectral quality throughout the whole listening area. The DIVA XS’s maximum sound pressure level, measured at a distance of 1m in free field conditions, is 124dB SPL (mid section) and 136dB SPL (high section). The RMS maximum power is 300W (16 Ω) for the mid section and 80W (16 Ω) for the high section.
Lee Seong WOOK, Director of Sound for the National Assembly Hall, added details about the workings of the sound system, “Due to the special situation of the National Assembly Hall, the speakers couldn’t be installed in plain sight, where they would be revealed to people in the hall. Therefore, we had difficulty in designing the installation- including the distortion of the phase and control of the balance of the right and left sides. To solve these problems, we chose the Amadeus DIVA XS line array system, which is compact and reduces the feeling of coercion.”
Offering an insight to Amadeus quality, Lee Seong WOOK continues, “The advantage of a high sound pressure level speaker, with a compact size and a wide sound coverage, helps keep people from becoming tired in spite of the often long meeting times in the Main Hall. At present, everyone concerned with the install, including sound designers and engineers, are very happy with the choice of the Amadeus speakers. Of course, members of the South Korean legislative are also very satisfied with the updated sound conditions in the hall.”
Other components of the new sound system in the National Assembly Hall include two Yamaha digital mixing consoles for main and backup, models CL3 and CL1 respectively, along with specific processors to help clarify and control the sound in the huge dynamic environment, such as the Ashly NE2424M DSP matrix processors and Rio-1608D digital stage boxes. Yamaha’s ‘Centralogic’ user interface is one of the most user-friendly operating environments available on a digital console today. The ‘Selected Channel’ interface is integrated into both the CL3 and CL1, along with the User Defined Knobs feature offering variable parameters assignable to knobs for direct, instant access. These console capabilities helped make the National Assembly Hall install work smoothly. The sound system was designed and installed with Marshall Pro Audio’s team including Manager, Dong Hwa KANG, and Assistant Manager, Tae Hwan LEE.
“This is one of the first major installations in South Korea for Amadeus and a proud moment in our company’s history,” stated Gaetan BYK, Marketing Manager at Amadeus. “Amadeus identified South Korea in 2011 as one of its three priority development regions in our strategy of international expansion. Our objective is not to be present everywhere, but to be strategically well placed and to establish ourselves as a successful brand over the long term. We opened our international expansion in 2011 following a wonderful encounter with Jin Wan Kim, from Marshall Pro Sound, which became one of our two authorized dealers in South Korea.”
“We attach great importance to the quality of our distribution network in South Korea-and all around the world,” added Gaetan BYK. “We do not just sell loudspeakers and associated services. We sell sonic emotions. In this sense, we find partners with whom we share the same philosophy, the same values, the same ideas about sound, this is essential to ensure the Amadeus DNA is upheld.”
Sy PARK concludes, “We thank everyone on the Amadeus team, including Bernard BYK, Michel DELUC and Gaetan BYK for working closely with us on this install – a great accomplishment.”
For more information about Marshall Pro Audio, Inc. please visit: http://www.marshallpro.co.kr
To get a deeper understanding of Korea’s National Assembly Hall visit these websites: http://www.assembly.go.kr and http://tinyurl.com/visit-seoul
About Amadeus
Amadeus develops, manufactures and sells a wide range of high-end sound reinforcement loudspeakers, studio monitors and various signal processing interfaces that combine its own custom innovative technology with stylish design, for the professional audio industry. Created in 1992 from the collaboration between the French designer Bernard BYK and the scientist and musician Michel DELUC, the Amadeus brand has grown to become a leading supplier of high-end audio solutions and services for theaters, opera houses, museums, recording studios, research centers and touring concert sound rental operations. All development and product manufacturing is centralized in Amadeus headquarters in France, with field offices and authorized distributors located in Europe, Asia and UAE.
Contact Amadeus at info@amadeusaudio.fr or visit http://www.amadeusaudio.fr
Amadeus is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. All other registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
