Waterloo, Canada (June 20, 2013)—Revolution in Waterloo, Southern Ontario, Canadahas been a popular dance/nightclub since the nineties, sharing a 10,000 square foot building with Flying Dog Restaurant. Keeping up with trends beloved by the students of three nearby universities as well as a cluster of high-tech multinational corporations in the area, the venue recently underwent a complete audio, video and lighting system upgrade that included a Martin Audio system.
Although Revolution occasionally features international DJs such as Avicii and Hardwell, co-owner Gary Stewart insists the club “isn’t guest DJ driven. We have always appealed to the masses. We’ve managed to fill 1600 seats every weekend for over 20 years by playing what the customer wants and appealing to the ladies.
“In terms of music program, we offer more variety because our guests don’t want to be hammered by a straight EDM program five or six hours a night. They still want Top 40 material and a more accessible pop/dance format to break things up. Most of the pop music on the radio has an EDM slant from a production standpoint anyway, so eventually it all falls into place and works for us on the dance floor.”
In addition to a massive dance floor, Revolution has The Purple Room and a number of VIP suites to accommodate the special needs of its guests. As Stewart explains, “we offer first-class furnishings with a degree of privacy, personal service and a feeling of being special when you step into one of our VIP areas, even if you’re not a famous celebrity.
“The Purple Room is our EDM space. We’ve been programming house DJs there for over 15 years. This space offers the more specific EDM fan a place to hear their favorite beats without having to go to a different club. It’s small and intimate with a crushing Martin PA in a room that holds up to 130 customers while total capacity for the club is 1590.”
Revolution’s recent audio, video and lighting system upgrade represents a significant investment consistent with Stewart’s commitment to keep the club at the forefront of technology. As he points out, “Besides the new audio install which features the latest Martin Audio products, we’ve put in 92 Microh LED video panels with 11 screens running around the perimeter of the dance floor and three screens behind the reconstructed DJ booth that is now the featured attraction since the DJ is the rock star.”
Revolution’s current audio upgrade features a new Martin Audio speaker system consisting of eight Blackline H3H+ three-way Hybrid system enclosures, ten WSXa subwoofers, DX2 speaker processing and MA5.2K and MA9.6K power amplifiers. “We’d already owned Martin Audio gear for over 10 years, so this was a natural choice for an upgrade,” said Stewart. “Basically, we wanted a bigger, fuller, louder sound. 15 years ago, we were top of the heap and state-of-the-art, and you can quickly fall backwards in the ranks if you don’t keep changing.”
The updated system also includes new Pioneer CDJ Nexus 2000 and 900 Multi players with new technology that allows DJs to use USB, data cards and Wi-Fi in addition to CDs.
Asked how he feels about the new Martin Audio system, Stewart concludes, “We’re absolutely thrilled with the increased SPL, musicality and smoothness of coverage. It’s given us big smiles and big wow. We did a promotional event with one of the beer companies mostly attended by industry guests, and the other club owners in town walked in and their jaws dropped. The room, the changes and the PA system blew them away. They were going on and on like, ‘Oh My God, Oh My God, it sounds so great,’ which is nice to hear from your competition and your peers.”
Martin Audio
www.martin-audio.com
