Like all other City Winery locations, the philosophy behind the new 350-seat, cabaret-style listening room in the historic Napa Valley Opera House is a meticulous attention to sensory delight. The sound system is no exception acoustically or visually, according to Ed Greer, City Winery's chief production officer.
"Because we focus on singer-songwriters, we needed a PA that is extremely accurate acoustically, that can deliver with complete transparency," says Greer. "The Mina arrays achieve that goal, and their sleek profile also fits with the elegance of the room. Any system we install in City Winery will be Meyer Sound. We don't consider anything else."
The dual arrays of eight-each Mina loudspeakers are supplemented by two 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, with front fill and under-balcony delay provided by eight UP-4XP loudspeakers. System drive and optimization is courtesy of a Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system with two Galileo Callisto 616 processors, and artist foldback is supplied by eight MJF-210 stage monitors.
"This room is quite live, and acoustical treatments were limited by historical preservation rules," notes Nate Stephens, production manager for the venue. "But the Minas provide exactly what this room needs - they reinforce the sound from the stage, and don't create a whole new sound with brute force. The transparency and linearity of the MINAs make a seamless transition from on-stage to amplified sound."
Stephens reports that the MJF-210 stage monitor has made an impression on the visiting artists. "The gain before feedback on the MJF-210s is fantastic," he says. "I have to do almost nothing with either the graphic or channel EQs to get the sound the artists want. I just put it up, and they say it's perfect."
FOH is mixed at centre balcony on a 48-channel Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console. Monitors are mixed from FOH for small acoustic acts, and a 32-channel M7CL console is available to mix monitors for full bands. Notable artists that have performed at City Winery Napa include Bruce Cockburn, Graham Nash, David Grisman, and Lila Downs.
Music and hospitality entrepreneur Michael Dorf opened the first City Winery in New York in 2008 with a Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeaker system, and the Chicago location employs a JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker system. Another Meyer Sound system is slated for a Nashville location, opening in early October.
(Jim Evans)
