The cosmetic giant has established L’Oréal Academies across the world to train hairdressers in the latest techniques and trends. One of the most recent academies is situated in Lisbon, where the AV system was integrated with Genelec‘s audio solutions.
The Garrett Audiovisuais integration specialists turned the L’Oréal Academy in the group’s first digital academy, and the first to deploy high quality Genelec loudspeakers throughout their training rooms.
“Previously L’Oréal used to rent in equipment for all of their events – explains Garrett’s Carlos Melo -. However, after discussions with us, they decided that it would be better to have their own in-house solution rather than having to rely on external AV companies, as it would be cheaper in the long term and more convenient. They also knew that they could rely on us for support whenever necessary. We recommended Genelec as it delivers everything they required: excellent intelligibility when using microphones, extremely high quality low level ambient sound, and can still blow people away when the DJ comes in!”
The installed techology
There are four rooms in total over two floors which are used largely for training but also for parties and other events. They can operate independently or combined in any configuration. The ground floor and first floor control rooms communicate so that L’Oréal can even host a single event across the two floors if necessary – since all audio and video can be streamed live across all four spaces, making the system extremely flexible.
For the audio system, Garrett specified two Genelec 8050B loudspeakers and one 7070A subwoofer per room. The 8050B was designed as a studio monitoring loudspeaker, thus guaranteeing absolutely pristine audio quality at any playback level and at any listening position in the room. The 7070A subwoofer offers extremely clean and precise low frequency performance, combining both low distortion and impressively high SPL capability. The speakers and subwoofers are all active, making installation very straightforward with no amp racks or long cable runs to worry about. Additionally, a number of AIC25 ceiling speakers have been installed throughout the lobby and other public areas.
Un sistema audio che fa la differenza
According to the Academy supervisor, Sofia Fernandes, the new audio system has made a huge difference, both in operational terms as well as quality. “These rooms are in use every day in a variety of combinations – she explains -. Set up is now a piece of cake: all I have to do is plug in the microphone and we’re essentially ready to go. On/off and level can all be controlled remotely via a tablet, or if we have a DJ in, they just run it all from the desk. The sound is amazing, whether it’s speech or music, at high level or low levels”. Furthermore, the Academy no longer have to deal with the disruption of external AV companies coming in and out. “Now we just manage it all ourselves, and probably with even better results. It all looks and feels extremely professional and is perfectly integrated with the rest of our systems”, says Fernandes.
From the integrator’s point of view, Carlos Melo confirms that Genelec was the right choice: “Firstly, we know that the sound quality is truly second to none; secondly, because most of their models are active, it’s very easy to install. Finally, we know that once they go in, the equipment is so reliable that, unless the client wants to upgrade or change anything, we probably won’t hear from them again for the next twenty years!”
