Once, twice, three times a KV
When David Phelps put together a deal securing the future of the Po na na chain of night clubs he inherited a mixed bag of technology from state of the art, to slightly questionable, in amongst his Audio visual systems. With music playing such a vital role in the success of their brand, David enlisted the help of Installation Company 52nd Street to advise on the best way forward, Shaun Collins of 52nd Street takes up the story.
"David had several venues on the table that he felt needed a lift and looked to us for guidance in ensuring the customers, DJ's and promoters were kept happy, whilst the shareholders money was spent wisely. There was a cross section of traditional Po na na basement style venues and a couple of larger open space clubs".
From an Audio point of view, David already had a long standing relationship with Jonathan Reece-Farren of KV2 Audio through his previous installation company Funtime. However, been the consummate professional he put good will aside and insisted on a demonstration of Jonathans proposed system in a venue of his choice.
That venue was Hammersmith Palais, David felt this would be a good place to put the KV2 Audio system through it's paces. There was an initial apprehension as the KV2 system was flown, physically dwarfed by 28 boxes of a Nexo Alpha e system alongside. In replacing it with only six stacks of the more compact KV2 ES system, the management and promoters were interested if not slightly nervous as to what the results would be.
"At 2500 capacity everything tells you that these small speakers should not be enough", but having spent the last twelve months facing similar challenges KV2's Jonathan Reece-Farren was quietly confident. As the Palais' promotions and events co-ordinator, Atif Malik put it "Our sound proof Glass Bar isn't sound proof anymore, the system sounds great"
Most noticeable was the exceptional coverage and clarity, enough to convince David Phelps that the next step was to immediately begin installations of the KV2 Audio system at those venues in greatest need.
First on the list was a successful site in Cheltenham, known as the Fez club where the management and promoters pride themselves on bringing in top name DJ's. They needed a system that would be immediately accepted by some of the world's best.
Po na na's Alice Greaves comments on the end result " We are now confident that these clubs truly offer the very best sound equipment available when booking world class DJs."
As part of the improvements some intelligent lighting, comprising Martin Professional MX4 scans, Wizards, and acrobats were also fitted, controlled by a Pulsar 216 masterpiece replay unit.
One satisfied manager down, and the 52nd street team moved on to Bristol where the Drum and Bass night had been putting untold strain on the previous house system. More importantly, the DJ's had been trying to mix with virtually no monitoring, SCARY.
Shaun Collins again " David, like many operators, has a dislike of large and obtrusive DJ monitors, until KV2's EX range came out there was very little available in a compact cabinet that would provide the clarity to separate out intricate parts of a mix, but take the punishment associated with the title of " DJ Monitor".
On the main dance floor, the throw capabilities of the ES system enabled us to replace the four existing Mid highs with a single ES 1.0 left and right, four ES 1.8 Sub Bass cabinets and an EX10 as DJ monitor. Epak 2500 amplification and control modules ensure that everything will keep running for many years to come.
As the third part of their hat trick the 52nd street installation team had to adapt a slightly different approach, as they were summoned to a local council meeting, prior to making proposals for the new system in Bath.
Bath Fez club has a long history of noise problems, and whilst many have tried to improve the situation, success had been limited until now.
In a radical re-think of how the club operates, Shaun Collins, David Phelps, and Steve Thick of Po na na, looked at a solution that involved not only redesigning the sound system but also moving the dance floor area and peripheral bar areas to refocus the energy away from Party walls.
For Shaun's part, several meetings with the Council gained the approval for the new audio scheme which utilises the compact KV2 EX10 speakers running full range but suspended on specially manufactured sound absorption brackets. Shaun elaborates "The EX 10's are very flat, and have amazingly predictable and reliable dispersion characteristics, all of which makes them an ideal solution for dealing with noise problems".
A single EX 2.2 sub, mounted on a Neoprene mattress provides some support in the lower end, but all in a very controlled way.
On the loudspeaker management side, an XTA DP 224 ensures that even the most enthusiastic of DJ's can do little to upset the perfect balance of crystal clarity on the dance floor, and the sound of silence in the next door flat.
With everybody happy in Bath, and 52nd Streets work complete, they re-group and wait for the next call from David Phelps, as he rolls out the new and improved Po na na formula into 2004.
