Known for efficient, focused, high-intensity workouts, Basecamp Fitness maintains
three popular locations in Southern California and two in Northern California. High-
energy music helps fuel workouts at these centres; at the same time, patrons need to
hear their instructors clearly. That’s a lot to ask of a sound system, so when the old
systems in the three Southern California locations proved inadequate, the company
brought in respected Orange County, California, design/build firm Tekworks. Tekworks
came through with a complete solution based on Renkus-Heinz IC Live Gen5
loudspeakers.

“We have been working with Basecamp Fitness over the past couple of years,
perfecting the audio-video experience for their clients,” begins Tekworks Director of
AV Dave Novak. “Intelligibility is the number one priority in these facilities. We need
loud music so people can get into their workouts, and we need lots of low frequencies-
that pumping bass. But above everything, people have to understand what the
instructor is telling them. So intelligibility is key.”

As if the demands of intelligibility combined with high-SPL music weren’t enough, the
spaces proved challenging. “Acoustically, these are terrible environments; it’s like a
big metal box, with reverberant sound,” observes Novak. “The rooms have lots of
mirrors, glass, and concrete and lots of metal on the ceiling. We try to control the
space, but when we can’t, we have to control the sound. At the first facility we did for
Basecamp Fitness, for example, sound treatment was not an option. We knew from
previous installations that Renkus-Heinz beam steering was what these spaces
needed.”

Accompanied by Jeff Miranda, vice president of equipment supplier Pacific AV, Novak
demoed a Renkus-Heinz IC Live Gen5-series loudspeaker at Basecamp Fitness’ Santa
Monica facility. “We brought it in, set it up, and 80 percent of our problems went away
with just a single speaker change because of IC Live’s ability to focus a vertical
beam,” Novak recalls. “With IC Live Gen5, we’ve got nice, wide horizontal dispersion
and the ability to focus vertical beams to keep the sound off the ceilings. Some will
come off the walls, and there’s not much we can do about that, but once we cut the
ceiling out of the equation and steer the sound toward the floor, everything works
Great.”

Although Novak considered the Renkus-Heinz ICONYX series, he decided on the
Renkus-Heinz IC-F-Dual-RN, part of the IC Live Gen5 series. “ICONYX is a great
speaker when the sound pressure level doesn’t need to be that high,” Novak avers,
“but this is essentially pretty close to a rock and roll venue. We chose IC Live Gen5
because it delivers the high SPL required. One IC-F-Dual-RN in the back of the space
covers the entire space. We’re steering four beams, and we get even coverage, with
the same SPL front to back. Everything is intelligible, it’s nice and loud, and the
system looks great.”

IC Live Gen5 arrays employ a slim, low-profile enclosure that enables them to blend
visually into the background. But while they may be all but unseen, they are most
certainly heard, delivering up to 108 dB SPL of clear, clean audio from 80 Hz to 20
kHz. Horizontal dispersion is 150° up to 3 kHz and 120° above 3 kHz, providing the
broad, even coverage Novak sought. The aiming angle can be precisely adjusted from
-30° to +30°, enabling Novak to focus the beams exactly where needed in a
challenging acoustical environment.

To deliver the powerful low-end Basecamp Fitness patrons crave, Novak chose a
Renkus-Heinz PNX212-SUB subwoofer, which features dual ultra-heavy-duty 12-inch
woofers for maximum low-frequency impact. With its 40 to 120 Hz frequency range
and ability to deliver up to 134 dB SPL, the PNX212-SUB was a logical choice. “We
didn’t go for overkill in the space,” Novak insists. “We just wanted some nice, tight
low end, and the PNX212-SUB fills that in nicely.”

Novak installed IC-F-Dual-RN/PNX212-SUB systems in all three of Basecamp Fitness’
Southern California facilities. “They’re all difficult acoustic environments, and the IC
Live Gen5 system always takes care of it,” he reports. “We got the intelligibility and
SPL that we needed for every venue. The Renkus-Heinz system gives us a rock
concert environment that motivates the people working out. IC Live Gen5 was the
right choice for Basecamp Fitness. I’ve proven it three times in these venues.”