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The Wire

Seattle’s Famed Crocodile Reborn with Hi-Res Sommer Cable

The Crocodile, famed Seattle nightclub that opened in 1991 and became world famous as a birthplace of Grunge with local and international touring acts including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Alabama Shakes, and many more, has reopened in a new spacious multi-venue entertainment complex. Featuring a 750-capacity Showroom performance space and bar […]

The Crocodile, famed Seattle nightclub that opened in 1991 and became world famous as a birthplace of Grunge with local and international touring acts including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Alabama Shakes, and many more, has reopened in a new spacious multi-venue entertainment complex. Featuring a 750-capacity Showroom performance space and bar for major acts, a smaller basement level 300-capacity performance lounge (“Madame Lou’s”) for emerging acts, and theatre (“Here After”). The new facility features high-resolution audio Sommer Cable.

Val Foster, Technical Director at The Crocodile, explained, “The basic principle is,
large copper conductors with high strand count is optimal. The d&b V-series speaker specifications call for two conductors per V8 — utilizing array processing — and wiring up the PA with high AWG two-conductor wire would give you functioning system. However, more copper at 224 strands per conductor results in higher sensitivity and resolution across the entire audio bandwidth. Not only do we utilize 11 AWG wire, we use four-conductor cabling and jump two conductors together to make it 2x11AWG per terminal.”

Val Foster at SSL-200 FOH console in the Showroom performance space.

Foster adds, “By doubling the conductors, we decrease resistance. Thus we are essentially going beyond load matching that software can do in the amps – by doing it the analog way. Furthermore, Sommer has the highest strand count per wire gauge that is readily available. In our search for lowest resistance and highest resolution, Sommer was the optimal choice.”

2707 ft. of Sommer Elephant/ Eclipse Cable was integrated for the hard wiring of the d&b amps to speaker connections throughout the venue. All of the mic/line input cabling — 2001 ft. — is also from Sommer in their Galileo series.

An additional 3,800 sq.ft. movie theater houses a comedy club that hosts one-person shows, art exhibitions and other smaller, community-focused events. The theater space, dubbed “Here-After,” has Sommer cabling running to the stereo mains. The Crocodile also operates a third-floor hotel as a perk for touring acts and visitors to Seattle’s burgeoning music scene.

Dennis Maximova of TAB-Funkenwerk was the lead integrator on the project and designed Crocodile’s systems, including extensive acoustical design, the backbone building integration including electrical layout, Audio/Video signal distribution throughout the venue and access for online streaming utilizing 7875 ft. of Cat7a.

Lowell Stringer, account manager with Sommer dealer HAVE, Inc. recalls, “Dennis’ initial order was for Sommer’s Galileo mic cable and Elephant speaker cable, but he later returned for some of the company’s Eclipse speaker cable. Sommer’s line is the perfect choice for both live venue and studio installations. Their cable is built to withstand being trampled under foot by Doc Martens and doused in spilled beer while reliably delivering audio with the clarity and impact that a venue as legendary as The Crocodile deserves. I have no doubt that both the owners and patrons will enjoy the sound Sommer’s products deliver for years to come.”

Val Foster elaborates, “For the hard-wired installation and for the stages, we used Sommer’s Elephant speaker cable for all the installed runs. Each d&b V8 cabinet has a dedicated 69 ft. run from the amps, and each d&b V8-sub pair has a dedicated 69 ft. run, as well as for all the installed tie-in for monitors on stage. We then use Sommer’s Elephant cable to connect all wedges and fills on stage. Essentially, every amp channel is driving Elephant cable, either hitting a speaker directly or a patch point on stage. All short jumper cables are Elephant as well.”


Val Foster is seen in the Crocodile tech room.

“All the microphone cables are Sommer Galileo,” Foster continues. “We made 12′ and 25′ versions for various stage needs. We have some leftover bulk on the spool and will be making a few 50′ runs as well for a patch point on stage.

Learn more about The Crocodile:
https://www.thecrocodile.com

Learn more about Sommer Speaker Cable SC-Eclipse:
https://www.sommercable.com/product/en/Cable/Bulk-Cable-Speaker/Lautsprecherkabel-SC-Eclipse-SPQ240-MKII-440-0256.html

Learn more about Sommer Elephant speaker cable:
https://www.sommercable.com/product/en/Cable/Audio-Speaker-Cable/Lautsprecherkabel-Elephant-EL20U425-1-00m.html

Learn more about Sommer Galileo microphone cable:
https://www.sommercable.com/product/en/Cable/Bulk-Cable-Audio/Mikrofonkabel-SC-Galileo-238-200-0251.html

ABOUT SOMMER CABLE
Sommer Cable Germany is an enterprising development and manufacturing company of innovative and unique cable, connector and electronic products for the Studio, A/V Installation, Live Sound, Broadcast, Video, Music, IT and HiFi markets, with business partners in over 50 countries. In 2015, Sommer Cable America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sommer Cable Germany, was established in Santa Rosa, CA. Jed Larson is COO of the new company, which supplies the North American markets with Sommer’s wide range of innovative and high quality products. 707.200.4020 http://sommercable.com/en

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