But it is the 800-capacity Sala Ángel in the Barcelona suburb of Sabadell, that has really captured the imagination. Situated in the Zona Hermética industrial area, after dark the district is turned over to live entertainment, and becomes one large party.
Ángel owner Gregorio García wanted to appeal to an audience seeking to be entertained away from the Barcelona downtown scene. With a unique venue, which would cover both live performances and dance club modes, he also wanted to attract a wide age range.
Barcelona based contractor and audio expert Josep Bages from ArtMedia was consulted for a sound reinforcement solution, both for the main floor and the upper VIP room. Having worked with QSC Line Array systems in other recent installations, Bages sat down with QSC's Spanish distributors to design a system that would fulfil the needs of the new venue.
QSC Spain's Mauri Costa thus arranged a demonstration of the scaled-down WideLine WL2082-i Installation Line Array system for the owners and resident DJs. "Because Ángel has such a flexible programme, the club needed a multipurpose system, and wanted to evaluate the ILA against other brands; they wanted to be able to play house music in surround but at the same time have great live sound coming off the stage," said Costa. "But what made the ILA system the final choice was the superior definition of the sound compared to other better known solutions that it was up against."
The fully-optimised design is based around two four-box hangs of WL2082-i, suspended from the flybars, reinforced with four HPR151i powered single 15" subs, recessed into the stage, and a pair of MD-215 (2 x 15") subs covering the dancefloor - all under the control of QSC's 322ua and DSP-30 digital signal processors. Further down the room a pair of delayed AD S282H's provide additional coverage.
Different presets were created in the DSP 322 to allow the system to function between live sound and DJ sessions. The ILA system is powered by four RMX 1450 bridged and a RMX 2450 for the HF, while the AD 282Hs and the MD 215s are powered by two PLX1804s and two PLX3602s (bridged).
QSC Spain has also equipped the stage with six further powered floor monitors. The HPR-122i 12in low-frequency woofer with 3in voice coil is powered by 400W of class H power for optimum performance referencing.
On the upper floor, a 100sq.m VIP room affords guests a great view of the dancefloor and stage. The room houses six AD S82Hs (powered by a single RMX 4050) and HPR 181i subwoofer. Audio feed comes either from the VIP room DJ booth or the main control downstairs, enabling the VIP guests to listen to the concert being held on the main floor from the comfort of the booth, and with lighter SPL levels.
(Jim Evans)
