NEW YORK CITY – April 2009 — Recently designated as an official New York City landmark, Webster Hall has served as one of Manhattan’s premier live music venues for well over 120 years. In 2005, the nightclub made a giant leap forward in terms of production values by installing a full L-ACOUSTICS dV-DOSC loudspeaker system in its 1,400-capacity Grand Ballroom located on the second floor. Based on that system’s success, Webster Hall has once again turned to L-ACOUSTICS, this time to outfit its intimate 300-capacity basement venue known as The Studio @ Webster Hall.
Kevin Mignone of Island Park-based KM Productions was brought in to design and install The Studio’s system, which now benefits from three ARCS per side flown in a horizontal array and powered by two LA4 amplified controllers. Four SB28 subwoofers, driven by a single LA8, are positioned end-to-end behind a sturdy steel grille under the front lip of the stage. For monitoring, the venue offers five mixes, which are delivered via four coaxial 12XT wedges and a single 115XT HiQ for the drummer, all collectively powered by three additional LA4.
Prior to permanently installing the new system in December, Mignone had operated an identical rig from his own L-ACOUSTICS inventory in the room for a month and a half, starting with the hectic CMJ Music Marathon in late October. “We had 50 bands play the room in those first five days, so the system definitely got a workout and proved itself to the club,” says Mignone. “Not only did it handle the rigorous schedule of a wide variety of acts, but consider this: the room is four walls of sheet rock with metal behind it. There is not even the slightest bit of acoustical treatment, and yet everything sounded crisp, clean and beautiful from the start — even before I tuned the room! The directivity of the ARCS enclosure is extremely precise.”
Mignone is also quick to compliment the LA4 and LA8. “I am very impressed with the amplified controllers. Now that L-ACOUSTICS has optimized their presets through considerable live R&D, the LA4 and ARCS combination is amazing. When putting together the system for The Studio, I had an ideal sound in my head, but, honestly, this rig has greatly exceeded even my own expectations.”
Response from the bands, DJs and engineers coming through the venue has been equally favorable. “Everyone’s absolutely in love with the sound system,” Mignone adds. “Most people don’t expect to walk into a small venue like this and find a setup of this caliber. As a result, The Studio has very quickly developed a reputation as a fantastic place for shows, and bands from all over the world — even fairly well known acts — are now requesting to play the venue.”
In addition to being a top-notch performance environment for bands and DJs, The Studio also boasts a digital multitrack recording studio capable of capturing acts on the basement stage as well as acts two floors up in the Grand Ballroom. According Lon Ballinger, who owns Webster Hall with his brothers, Steve and Douglas, “The Studio was created to celebrate the memory of the original Webster Hall Recording Studio where Stereophonic music was created by the legendary RCA Victor sound engineers in 1953.” For more information, visit: www.websterhall.com
L-ACOUSTICS is a leading innovator and manufacturer of high-performance loudspeakers, amplifiers and signal processing devices for touring and installed sound markets. Known around the globe for pioneering and championing the modern line array loudspeaker concept with V-DOSC, the company has received numerous accolades for its KUDO, KIVA, ARCS, XT coaxial loudspeaker systems and SB line of subwoofer enclosures, all powered and processed with the LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers in fulfillment of a “total system approach.” L-ACOUSTICS products for the North American market are manufactured and distributed by L-ACOUSTICS US of Oxnard, California.
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L-ACOUSTICS US
2201 Celsius Avenue, Unit E, Oxnard, CA 93030
Tel: 805.604.0577 / Fax: 805.604.0858
Email: [email protected] / Web: www.l-acoustics.com
