A view of the headquarters of L-Acoustics in Marcoussis, highlighting the theme based on the logo of the company, created using covers on the windows of the facade. This is the building that hosted all activity when it was built in 2002. It was gradually relieved of logistics and, now, also of the production line.

When a renown prestigious brand like L-Acoustics steps on the gas, it doesn't go unnoticed. New buildings, new assembly line, the foundation of a holding company, a new management team, the arrival of professionals from the automotive industry, massive hiring, double-digit growth, all these things denote the will of this jewel of French electro-acoustics to grow even faster and better. How far will it go?

The ringmaster, or the man with the golden keys, in action... but you can call him Stéphane Ecalle.

A note of humor to start: During our visit to Marcoussis to cover the official presentation of the X-Series, where we gathered the information necessary for the preparation of this article, we were never free from the sound of concrete drills being used in the building, which was, once again, being modified.
At L-Acoustics, change is not a political slogan but a reality, and a stroll through the past, present and future of this company with the help of the verve of Stéphane Ecalle, marketing director, shows striking proof of this.
Marcoussis (a small town located in the Paris suburbs) now hosts four different buildings. First of all, there is the headquarters, which was established in 2002 and houses the administration, the design offices, an auditorium and lots of space for training, R&D and new entrants.
Then there is a second building that is home to the speaker and electronics assembly lines. Finally, two separate buildings are dedicated to logistics.
The first of these is for the flow of incoming material such as woodwork, loudspeakers, accessories and all electronic subassemblies, while the second building is for outgoing finished and packaged products, waiting to be shipped around the world to distributors or subsidiaries.

The building in which all acoustic and electronic products are assembled and tested

But L-Acoustics has also changed more profoundly, because this historic brand of speakers is no longer... a brand, but the flagship of L-Group, which comprises three others: Simea, L-Isa and Blububbles.
In addition to owning and controlling these four brands and subsidiaries, this holding company includes the infrastructure necessary to consolidate them under a single common denominator.

Simea is the subsidiary responsible for the design and manufacture of the cabinets, which are increasingly complex, lightweight, rigid, involve much more than wood, and necessary for the new speaker lines like K2 and the X Series. Initially a simple subcontractor, this industrial woodshop was founded in 1984 and joined the group around 2007.
Based in Keskastel, in the Bas-Rhin area, it has just inaugurated a new building of nearly 5000 m². This facility features 5-axis, dual-head CNC machines and offers a significant scalability capability in order to meet customer demand, thanks to its 60 workers and its network of subcontractors that employ over 200 people.

The new facilities of Simea, a subsidiary of L-Group that manufactures all the woodwork, located in Keskastel, Bas-Rhin. 850 enclosures come out of here every week.

This building is also designed to have a reduced carbon footprint, to limit waste and recycle manufacturing scraps. It is certified to meet the RT2012 standards.

L-Isa, Installations Sonores Artistiques (Artistic Sound Installations)
It is a new branch of L-Group that has conducted research for the past few years aimed at providing, through distributed loudspeaker systems, new hyper-realistic listening experiences.

Certainly an artistic image, but very real, as it was taken in the auditorium in Marcoussis where 54 Karas and 4 SB28s are still installed. This picture certainly creates a desire to hear it.

Countless experiments have already been conducted in the auditorium at Marcoussis, where an impressive circular wall of 13 clusters of six KARAs each, deployed at intervals of 15°, allows a total of 180°. Four SB-28s reinforce the low end.

This installation is still in place and will doubtlessly host future demos.
L-Isa can be considered a new sound reinforcement format that will lead to professional, and domestic applications.

Christian Heil personally manages this project, which has just been officially presented at ISE in Amsterdam and has a its own website.
See link here l-Isa-music.
Soon, we will have the opportunity to come back to this process and the equipment used.

Finally, the company BluBubbles aims at building bridges between arts and technology, any form of art, musical or not, linked to L-Isa or not. Hence the existence of the works of art included in L-Group's collection.

Therefore there is a total of 25,000 m² of facilities dedicated to the group and mainly to the design, manufacture and sale of advanced sound systems.

From a barn to 25,000 m² of facilities