Powering an exploded array of Fulcrum Acoustic loudspeakers in two of its aerobics studios, new Powersoft M28Q, M30D and M50Q amplifiers mark the latest audio investment at the Multnomah Athletic Club in downtown Portland. The MAC, as it is known, occupies two buildings with its the eight-level clubhouse facing directly onto Jeld-Wen Field, home of the Portland Timbers soccer club.
The amplifiers are part of an upgrade that includes a Symetrix DSP unit, a multi-disc, multi-format player and a Crestron control system with remote control via local touchpad and Apple iOS devices. ‘The Powersoft, with enormous amount of power in a compact unit, allows us to have really nice headroom,’ says David R Garlett, Senior Design Consultant at Delta A/V Systems. ‘It’s plenty loud – that system could break the windows in there, but it is heavily limited and controlled. It sounds better than most hi-fi systems, and with Powersoft I don’t have to break the bank to get that power.’
Garlett designed the playback systems for the two rooms – one a spin class and the other an aerobics studio, which measure between 1,200 and 2,500-sq-ft. ‘The results were beyond our expectations,’ he adds. ‘It was an amazing feat to not only satisfy the aerobics instructors, staff and patrons, but management as well.’
‘We incorporated pretty much every audio DSP trick known to man,’ he continues. ‘For example, there’s a Fulcrum monitor behind the instructor that is mix-minus – it plays programme but not the instructor’s microphone. The speakers are arranged in an exploded array and they are all time-aligned, with zero being the monitor behind the instructor. When the instructor speaks there’s a very fast, zero attack, ducking about 6dB, with a release of zero. When the instructor speaks it isn’t additive to the overall SPL. So what we accomplished was a system that can run at a good clip, but no one complains that it’s loud or fatiguing.
‘There are four zones out in the main studio and a graphic control that allows them to dim a given zone should someone mention that it’s a little loud for them. They can drop that zone 10dB; the net drop is probably 6dB, because you do have crossover from other zones, but it’s enough to placate the patrons.’
Garlett ordered the Powersoft amplifiers without the optional DSP, because the system needed features only available in a dedicated outboard DSP matrix device. ‘In all other cases I do use Powersoft DSP as a fixed architecture,’ he says. ‘What are you going to buy for that price?’
Delta A/V is a Portland-based, privately held, audiovisual systems integration firm that has been providing design, engineering, sales, installation, service, custom programming and documentation of high-tech audio/video and control systems since February 1996.
More: www.powersoft-audio.com
More: www.symetrix.co
More: www.deltaav.com
