Long Beach, CA – December 2008… Located on the hugely popular Pine Avenue “restaurant row� just north of the Shoreline Village area that serves as the focal point for the area’s tourists, Sergeant Pepper’s Dueling Piano Café entertains its visitors with sing-along, belly aching laughter that is completely request driven, and riddled with adult humor and audience participation. Guests fill out a request and send it up to one of the talented pianists, each of whom knows hundreds of songs. From there, anything goes! An intimate room with a small stage, the venue recently opened and, at its entertainment core, is a sound reinforcement system from the D.A.S. Audio Variant catalog.
Duarte, CA-based Total Concept Integration (TCI), a design/build firm that handles a broad range of commercial projects, designed and installed Sergeant Pepper’s new sound system. According to Adrian Morales, one of the firm’s partners, space was a huge consideration on this project. “This is a small, pub-like type of venue,� said Morales. “With two pianos and a drum set up on stage, there really isn’t a whole lot of room to spare. Initially, the owner envisioned flying a few conventional, non-powered loudspeakers that would be augmented by one or two subwoofers on the floor. When we asked him where he planned on housing the power amps, he realized this approach would consume considerably more space than he actually had available.�
With assistance from Steve McNeil of Mac West Group, the southern California firm that represents D.A.S. Audio in the area, Morales and his associates scheduled a demonstration of D.A.S. Audio’s Variant Installation Array loudspeakers, which bring the unique advantages of the powered line array format to small and mid-sized venues. “Aside from the savings in floor space these self-powered loudspeakers brought to the environment,� explained Morales, “this compact line array system provides far more even dispersion throughout the room than conventional speakers could achieve. Upon hearing the system, the owner immediately agreed this was a better solution.�
Upon receiving the green light to proceed, the TCI crew flew six D.A.S. Audio Variant 25A self-powered, ultra-compact line array modules—three per side—over the front edge of the stage. For low frequency support, two Variant 18A subwoofers were also flown, with one enclosure each for the left and right hangs. The ideal complement for the Variant 25A, the Variant 18A powered subwoofer extends the bandwidth of the array to 30 Hz. The cabinet design incorporates rigging hardware that permits a column of Variant 25A´s to be flown from or stacked above the Variant 18A.
Morales notes, “In addition to the fact that, being self-powered, this system eliminates the need for separate power amplifiers, the overall appearance is considerably more streamlined since there’s less cabling to run. We’ve had great success with D.A.S. equipment, so we’re absolutely confident the system will provide years of reliable service.�
Sergeant Pepper’s Dueling Piano Café is a unique attraction on the Long Beach waterfront that, in the relatively short time since it opened, appears to be attracting considerable crowds. “This is a fun place to be and it has a varied menu with something for everyone,� said Morales. “The people really get caught up in the atmosphere. The new system fills the room, sounds really good, and the owner has been extremely pleased. Once he heard the system and discovered how much space he would save by getting everything up and off the floor, he realized this was absolutely the right way to go. Together, the music and the new sound system have this joint jumpin’.�
For additional information about Total Concept Integration, contact the company at 626.358.2314.
About D.A.S. Audio
Headquartered in Valencia, Spain, D.A.S. Audio is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of loudspeaker systems, power amplification, signal processing, and related components. For better than thirty years, D.A.S. Audio products have been found on tour with the world’s greatest performing artists and installed in many of the most prestigious facilities. For additional information about the company, visit them online at www.dasaudio.com.
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