Hagerstown, MD (August 5, 2026)—All music venues see their audio quality as a priority, but when the place is attached to the area’s largest record store, it becomes even more important. That’s certainly the case at Live at Hub City Vinyl (you can guess the record shop’s name from that), based in Hagerstown, MD’d historic Arts & Entertainment District. In fact, audio’s such a focus that the venue has two different performance spaces—The Main Stage and The Sidebar—each with its own RCF loudspeaker system.
The design and installation was tackled by Clair Global Integration’s Cleveland office under the direction of Tom George, senior design engineer/account manager, who had to devise systems that could handle everything from intimate acoustic sets to full-scale regional acts.
As you might guess from the name, the Main Stage Room hosts bigger acts, and its FOH position centers around an Allen & Heath Avantis console that can accommodate large input counts. The catch to the 650-cap room, however, is its low ceiling, which meant that the P.A. system uses split arrays and delay coverage to maintain consistent audio throughout the room. Making that happen are RCF HL6 line array speakers—the left and right hangs each sport three HL6 modules, bolstered by delays 20 feet downstage, each comprised of four HL6 modules per side.
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Meanwhile, a pair of RCF S 29 dual 19-inch subwoofers installed under the stage bring the low end support, while additional coverage is handled by RCF C 32 and NXL 14-A loudspeakers used for front fill, along with Compact A 10 loudspeakers providing side fill. Powering all that are Powersoft Quattrocanali and Duecanali amplifier platforms.
Next door in the smaller, 220-capacity room, The Sidebar, four flown RCF C 32 two-way loudspeakers arranged in a 270-degree configuration and two RCF S 8018 II subwoofers bring quieter, acoustic acts to all corners of the space. The system is powered by Lab Gruppen D80:4L amplification and mixed on a Midas M32 console.
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“It’s a very fun place to see a show, a welcoming place,” said Clair Global’s George. “[The owners] did a great job, and they’re very happy with the system. They’re already talking about what comes next.”
