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[Scott Carneval]

I'm consulting with the owner of a nightclub about overhauling their system.  Club is about a year old, but not in my city so I didn't bid on the original install.  Someone talked them into purchasing Renkus-Heinz cabinets but they were not installed by a professional.  Apparently their lighting installer knew enough to get them hooked up but they didn't take any regard to placement or system alignment.  They currently have 4 ST4R Mains and two DR18-2R Subs.  The ceiling is almost 40' high and the speakers are currently 26' above the dancefloor - their reasoning for putting them this high was to get maximum coverage, but it makes for some nasty reflections.  The floor is tile, walls are sheetrock, and the ceiling is some sort of commercial insulation but not soundproofing.  I'm really pushing for acoustic treatment for the walls and ceiling, but they're trying to spend as little as possible. 

The speakers were originally installed in two clusters of two but at some point the owner decided to split them up because he didn't like the way it sounded.  They now have them in the 4 corners of the dancefloor, but the rest of the club isn't covered at all.  To make matters worse, the speakers are spread in about a 40' square (26' above the dancefloor) so the sweet spot is about a 20'x20' spot on the stage where the DJ is, except no one is even ALLOWED up on the stage where the spot is!  I've attached an image to help clarify.

The owner's chief complaint is that the microphone is garbled and they get feedback.  The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the clarity was awful, and after an hour of being there my ears were extremely fatigued.  My proposal is to lower the speakers to about 12-16' above the dancefloor and put them back in clusters of two on either side of the DJ.  They are 40 degree conical boxes so they really need to be arrayed.  Then spread 8-12 fill speakers on the walls of the club and delay them to the mains.  The owner has JBL's in his gym and he really likes them, so I'm looking at the JBL AC2212/95.  I don't have much experience in an indoor venue this large, so I'm looking for some input to see if I'm going about this properly.

[Charlie Zureki]

I'm consulting with the owner of a nightclub about overhauling their system.  Club is about a year old, but not in my city so I didn't bid on the original install.  Someone talked them into purchasing Renkus-Heinz cabinets but they were not installed by a professional.  Apparently their lighting installer knew enough to get them hooked up but they didn't take any regard to placement or system alignment.  They currently have 4 ST4R Mains and two DR18-2R Subs.  The ceiling is almost 40' high and the speakers are currently 26' above the dancefloor - their reasoning for putting them this high was to get maximum coverage, but it makes for some nasty reflections.  The floor is tile, walls are sheetrock, and the ceiling is some sort of commercial insulation but not soundproofing.  I'm really pushing for acoustic treatment for the walls and ceiling, but they're trying to spend as little as possible. 

The speakers were originally installed in two clusters of two but at some point the owner decided to split them up because he didn't like the way it sounded.  They now have them in the 4 corners of the dancefloor, but the rest of the club isn't covered at all.  To make matters worse, the speakers are spread in about a 40' square (26' above the dancefloor) so the sweet spot is about a 20'x20' spot on the stage where the DJ is, except no one is even ALLOWED up on the stage where the spot is!  I've attached an image to help clarify.

The owner's chief complaint is that the microphone is garbled and they get feedback.  The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the clarity was awful, and after an hour of being there my ears were extremely fatigued.  My proposal is to lower the speakers to about 12-16' above the dancefloor and put them back in clusters of two on either side of the DJ.  They are 40 degree conical boxes so they really need to be arrayed.  Then spread 8-12 fill speakers on the walls of the club and delay them to the mains.  The owner has JBL's in his gym and he really likes them, so I'm looking at the JBL AC2212/95.  I don't have much experience in an indoor venue this large, so I'm looking for some input to see if I'm going about this properly.

   Hello Scott,

   To quote Mr. Ivan Beaver..  "In Audio, there are always trade-offs!" 

   The owner is his own worst enemy in this case... he probably owned a quad stereo system 

   The first thing I'd do...is buy the DJ a couple of monitors and his own small sub.
 
    Then, I'd rehang the speakers in an array, facing the dance floor from a standard hang configuration at the downstage edge of the stage.  I'd aim the speakers downward, so that they hit the dance floor at the 1/2 mark.   The dance floor is not so big that these speakers won't cover the space.   I'd drop them down to a lower heigth too.

   I'd check this out before adding any delays/fills .  The servers might have been the reason he felt the speakers needed to be moved.   If they can't hear the drink orders... it makes for a long and whiney night for the Bar owner and servers.

   Make sure that the subs are pounding...

   Hammer

[Brad Weber]

The ST4R comes in three versions; /44 (40x40), /64 (60x40) and /94 (90x40), are you sure what is installed is the 40x40 version?  The ST4R is also powered, so in looking at moving them have you considered the associated power?
 
On a more general level, what are the goals?  Do they want just the dance floor covered, the same level everywhere or a dance floor with high levels and then lower level fill elsewhere?  What styles of music and as Charlie noted, are the two subs sufficient (and where are they located)?
 
How do you plan to delay the fills to the mains if they are on the side walls and thus coming from behind most of the listeners relative to the mains?
 

The floor is tile, walls are sheetrock, and the ceiling is some sort of commercial insulation but not soundproofing.  I'm really pushing for acoustic treatment for the walls and ceiling, but they're trying to spend as little as possible.

Terminology, but "soundproofing" usually relates to sound isolation rather than absorption and before making any recommendations it would probably make sense to know what the ceiling treatment really is, it might turn out to be somethign that was recommended by whoever put together the original system.  If you do pursue treatment for the walls and/or ceiling, consider the frequencies that you are trying to address, you might find needing pretty serious treatment to keep from killing the highs and making the room 'boomy'.

[Scott Carneval]

   Hello Scott,

   To quote Mr. Ivan Beaver..  "In Audio, there are always trade-offs!" 

   The owner is his own worst enemy in this case... he probably owned a quad stereo system 

   The first thing I'd do...is buy the DJ a couple of monitors and his own small sub.
 
    Then, I'd rehang the speakers in an array, facing the dance floor from a standard hang configuration at the downstage edge of the stage.  I'd aim the speakers downward, so that they hit the dance floor at the 1/2 mark.   The dance floor is not so big that these speakers won't cover the space.   I'd drop them down to a lower heigth too.

   I'd check this out before adding any delays/fills .  The servers might have been the reason he felt the speakers needed to be moved.   If they can't hear the drink orders... it makes for a long and whiney night for the Bar owner and servers.

   Make sure that the subs are pounding...

   Hammer

The real enemy here is the owner's brother.  He knows just enough to be detrimental.  He argued with me for a good fifteen minutes about the placement of the speakers, I think it was his idea to put them there originally. 

Surprisingly the DJ isn't the issue here.  He's the resident both Friday and Saturday and he never once turned his master output past about half way the whole time I was there. 

The bass is ok, not great but they seem to be ok with it.  One of the first things I did was turn off the 75hz HPF on both DJ inputs into the board.  DOH!

[Scott Carneval]

The ST4R comes in three versions; /44 (40x40), /64 (60x40) and /94 (90x40), are you sure what is installed is the 40x40 version?  The ST4R is also powered, so in looking at moving them have you considered the associated power?
 
On a more general level, what are the goals?  Do they want just the dance floor covered, the same level everywhere or a dance floor with high levels and then lower level fill elsewhere?  What styles of music and as Charlie noted, are the two subs sufficient (and where are they located)?
 
How do you plan to delay the fills to the mains if they are on the side walls and thus coming from behind most of the listeners relative to the mains?
 Terminology, but "soundproofing" usually relates to sound isolation rather than absorption and before making any recommendations it would probably make sense to know what the ceiling treatment really is, it might turn out to be somethign that was recommended by whoever put together the original system.  If you do pursue treatment for the walls and/or ceiling, consider the frequencies that you are trying to address, you might find needing pretty serious treatment to keep from killing the highs and making the room 'boomy'.

I haven't been up on a scissor lift yet, but their invoice shows a /44 so I'm pretty certain it is.  The owners brother also mentioned a 40 degree dispersion in his reasoning for hanging them so high.  I will verify that before we move anything though.  But either way they need to be closer to the audience to maximize direct vs. reflected sound, correct?

The primary goal here is pounding on the dancefloor, but clear and intelligible throughout the club.  The bar areas need clean coverage but not deafening.  Music is mainly EDM, some top 40, and some hip-hop.  On occasion they will have artists, guest DJ's and celebrity appearences who will all perform or get on the mic.  The subs are sufficient, but I would like to see more.  They are spread out, one on either side of the club, nowhere near the dancefloor.  I want them center clustered, but that might not fly with them.  I intend to show him the difference with them center clustered and hopefully convince him to move them.  Where they are now it is absolutely pounding bass and zero mids/highs. 

As far as delaying the fills, I don't think you'll really hear them at all unless you're within about 30' of them, so at that position just delay them to the sound of the mains.  I know it's not exact, and as you get closer to the fills the delay will change, but I feel that it's better than no delay at all.  Once we relocate the mains and get it sounding good on the dance floor I will walk the room and find the dead spots.  That is where we will put the fills. 

[Brad Weber]

I haven't been up on a scissor lift yet, but their invoice shows a /44 so I'm pretty certain it is.  The owners brother also mentioned a 40 degree dispersion in his reasoning for hanging them so high.  I will verify that before we move anything though.  But either way they need to be closer to the audience to maximize direct vs. reflected sound, correct?

Yes, the point was more about knowing what area they cover and particularly in regards to arraying two boxes together.
 
Speaking of arrays, it sounds like one of your challenges may be that you are proposing arraying the speakers, which is apparently what they had and did not like.  You may have already done so, but if not it might help to let them know how what you are proposing will differ from what they had.

As far as delaying the fills, I don't think you'll really hear them at all unless you're within about 30' of them, so at that position just delay them to the sound of the mains.  I know it's not exact, and as you get closer to the fills the delay will change, but I feel that it's better than no delay at all.  Once we relocate the mains and get it sounding good on the dance floor I will walk the room and find the dead spots.  That is where we will put the fills.

You had mentioned putting the fill speakers on the walls, which seemed likely you put some behind some listeners.  At that point the fills would probably be loudest where you need the most delay, which if you could also hear them 30' into the room would probably make the arrival at that point long enough delayed to be an echo.  Reduce the delay time and if the fills are within 12dB or so of the mains and arrive first then listeners will localize to the fills, which may or may not be okay depending on if you care about the sound seeming to come from the DJ or dance floor.  If you could mount the fills from the ceiling and aimed out from th dance floor then it might be easier to get effective delay to the mains.

[duane massey]

+++1 on Brad's comments on the fill spkrs placement. Putting them on the walls is the worst possible location.
I can't imagine the 2 subs being even close to adequate for that large a venue.

[Ryan C. Davis]

If you do pursue treatment for the walls and/or ceiling, consider the frequencies that you are trying to address, you might find needing pretty serious treatment to keep from killing the highs and making the room 'boomy'.

Agreed, not to mention they may like the sound of a room that is more "alive" than dead. I say treat the first reflection on the walls and ceiling and call it a day

[Ryan C. Davis]

just looked at the diagram again. Are the front pair really aimed at each other? Seems goofy, I'd change that first.

[Scott Carneval]

just looked at the diagram again. Are the front pair really aimed at each other? Seems goofy, I'd change that first.

They've got about a 45 degree downward tilt to them, but yes the diagram is accurate.  It's not to scale though, so it makes the room appear smaller than it really is. 

[ProSoundWeb Community]