Located in the British midlands town of Lichfield, bar and club 24 Market Street recently worked with their long-time AV partners SLLFX and the UK team from Dynacord and Electro-Voice on an audio upgrade, completed as part of a wider refurbishment. Featuring Electro-Voice loudspeakers optimized via Dynacord electronics and SONICUE sound system software, the solution is powerful, flexible and cost-effective.
A prerequisite of the project was the ability to switch between background music during the day and high-output club sound for weekends and special events. SONICUE was used to design a double-duty loudspeaker deployment: 12 EVID 4.2 surface-mount models and an EVID-S10.1 surface-mount subwoofer to cover the bar area; three EVF-1122D/64 with a pair of EVF-2151D dual-15" subwoofers to cover the club area. All the loudspeakers are performance-optimized via dedicated settings. Dynacord C series dual-channel amplifiers power the EVIDs, with two C1300FDi for the 4.2s and one channel from a C1800FDi for the S10.1 sub. A single IPX20:4 four-channel amplifier handles the EVF club system, with three of its 5000 W channels driving the tops and the fourth for the two subs. Processing for the amps is managed via SONICUE.
A key element to the installation’s success is the use of the TPC-1 touch screen controller with the MXE5 matrix mix engine, both new from Dynacord, making the system extremely easy for staff to use. While the MXE5 manages loudspeaker processing across the venue’s two main sections and four independent audio zones, the TPC-1 provides a convenient single point of control for the entire system. Equipped with a high-resolution 5.7” display, the TPC-1 allows integrators to create customized apps to control MXE series matrices, and its slim in-wall profile and PoE design make it easy to install – even in shallow wall spaces. SONICUE was also used for logic control and processing on the MXE5.
“The main challenges were to get the best sound possible given the space and layout of the venue, and to make sure we met the brief of having complimentary sound levels and frequencies across the two separate sections,” explains Adam Turbill, Managing Director at SLLFX. “SONICUE software allowed us to precisely program the sections that needed powerful sound and those that needed to be more subtle.” This is the first time SLLFX has installed the MXE5/TPC-1 combination and they find it to be ideal for this kind of installation: “The MXE5 is more than capable of handling the tuning of the system and processing all the elements needed to get the sound spot-on,” says Turbill. “The touch panel controller allows the bar staff to change the settings of the system at the touch of a button, making sure that the venue can go from background music to full-range club night with no hassle and no nasty surprises with blown speakers.”
Reflecting on the overall project, Turbill is pleased with the results. “The venue is owned by a long-term client and friend of SLLFX who approached us because he trusted our work, so it was important for us to deliver above and beyond what he was expecting. The staff at Electro-Voice and Dynacord assisted us to get the best from the equipment supplied, and we believe that with their help we’ve nailed the brief and 24 Market Street has the best sound system in the region.”
