Club installations, which at first might seem like straightforward affairs, can be just as challenging as installations at large-scale venues, writes Greg Bester. Of course, they share many of the same obstacles, namely adequate coverage, volume concerns, aesthetics and budget constraints, but nonetheless the challenges remain meeting the needs of the client and delivering an effective product.

After all, the client may not always be right, but he is definitely king.
Wild and Marr have an enviable track record for supplying great hardware, masterfully installed, to a wide variety of clients from stadia to small basement clubs. Their list of brands is also impressive, including (but not limited to) JBL, Crown, BSS, Lexicon, Soundcraft and DBX.

So given the fact that their brands cover the entire spectrum of system components needed to accomplish a complete install, it is no wonder that they were called upon to install the sound and lighting at the VIP Room at the Michaelangelo Towers in Sandton, Johannesburg.

The VIP Room is an “intimate 300 square metre space designed with a special form of luxurious informality’ located in the centre of Sandton’s business district. Considering the velvet covered walls and chic, glossy feel of the fixtures, the overall ambiance and finish of the club is clearly high profile and therefore required a delicate touch and focussed execution.

Neville Rumble, Executive Sales Consultant at Wild and Marr, was kind enough to meet me at the VIP Room to run me through the planning, challenges and execution of the audio and lighting installation

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Sound

The VIP Room is basically a small to medium sized club with multiple rooms that offshoot the dance floor and bar area, which is the first space presented to you when descending into the club. The main specification when installing the audio system was to be powerful enough to get bodies moving but also discrete enough to be out of sight. For this reason, a single JBL VRX 932LAs was positioned on each extreme quadrant of the dance floor to supply a focussed, powerful sound while being hidden by the flat black finish of the ceiling.

Neville explains: “The reason we used the VRX 932LAs is because we had a ceiling height issue and we wanted to keep them out of the way. You barely even notice them, to be honest. ‘

For subwoofers, two JBL SRX728 dual-18′ enclosures were cleverly installed into the front façade of the DJ booth, hiding them nicely and giving them the perfect position to supply pounding bass to dancing club attendees. For powering the main system, two Crown MA-5000i amplifiers were employed.
For the DJ booth, only top of the line equipment was the accepted approach. Two Pioneer CDJ2000 CD players and a Pioneer DJM2000 mixer were installed, along with a single JBL PRX-615M for a booth monitor and a Shure SLX/SM58 wireless microphone system.

Of course, the dance floor was not the only space in the club requiring sound so therefore a distributed audio system was specified for various zones, particularly in the private rooms that offshoot the main dance floor. For these areas Neville chose to utilise – at the approval of his client – wall and ceiling mounted JBL Control series speakers coupled to Crown XLS Drivecore amplifiers for maximum sound quality given the tight spaces to work in.

“We use Control 25AVs all over the place. I prefer the wall-mounts; they sound a lot better but [the client] insisted on putting in ceiling mounts where they could. They would have had ceiling mount speakers everywhere but there was no space in [certain areas]. It’s always a compromise on what you want to do and what the client wants to do,’ Neville explains.

For system control a BSS BLU-100 series audio management processor was employed with two expansion units, supplying 12 inputs and 16 outputs. Two control panels were installed; one BLU-10 touch panel controller at the rack and one BLU-3 wall mount panel in the main entrance of the club. From these panels, volume levels for each zone in the club can be selected and controlled.

Lighting

Lighting the dance floor in the VIP Room is straightforward and uncomplicated. Four Robe Colour Spot 250s with moving heads were installed at each quadrant of the dance floor and Martin Light Jockey lighting control software was employed for lighting scheme configuration.

The wrap

Wild and Marr have an excellent reputation for professional, effective, and client-pleasing installations and the VIP club is no exception. From the high-power sound system, to the streamlined distribution of audio to the various zones, to the minimalist yet effective lighting, I’m sure their client and club attendees are more than happy with the results and will be for years to come

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By Greg Bester