The P.A. of Paris’ Dôme des Invalides

Paris, France (August 5, 2024)—There are churches that reach to the heavens and then there’s the Dôme des Invalides, the tallest church building in Paris, standing an amazing 107 meters. As the final resting place of some of France’s leading military figures, most notably Napoleon, the church was built during the reign of Louis XIV in the 17th century and features a half-dozen chapels.

The building’s architecture is highlighted nightly with an attraction for visitors, Aura Invalides, which covers the walls with dynamic video projections and lighting effects to create a three-part journey exploring the design and construction of the building, its history, and its role in the present day. The ambitious project is all soundtracked with orchestral music heard through a discretely placed P.A. by France-based pro-audio manufacturer Nexo.

IPS Updates Audio at The Crossing

Designed by Moment Factory and produced through a partnership with Musée de l’Armée, the country’s national military museum, Aura Invalides sports an all-Nexo sound system finished in a custom RAL color to match the stone walls; the system was designed and installed by French AV technology and events production specialists Novelty Group, with assistance from the Engineering Support team at Nexo.

The P.A. consists of eight clusters of four Nexo Geo M6 compact line array elements, each wall-mounted close to the pillars at the entrances of the four corner chapels, with each cluster facing the opposing pillar. L18 subs are mounted above each of the four corner arches, with a single Geo M620 at each corner firing into the dome to create a virtual source.

Compact Nexo ID24s above each arch face the floor, with additional pairs of ID24s mounted above the Turenne and Vauban monuments in the two side chapels, and pairs of ID24s supplemented by an IDS110 sub in each of the four corner chapels.