The project involved the installation of various Turbosound components in several public areas of the W San Francisco, a hotel located close to the city's Moscone Centre and Museum of Modern Art, in the downtown South-of-Market neighbourhood. Part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts group, which also includes the Westin, Sheraton and Four Seasons chains, the W hosts entertainment events in the Atrium, XYZ Bar and Restaurant.
"We had an arrangement with the W to provide sound reinforcement rental services," Megerssa elaborates. "They handle major events attracting up to 1,500 people. Every Thursday night they present the Nu W, a dance party, for 500-plus of the more 'sophisticated' crowd. At these events, the W employs the best DJs in the world. And while Zebra Sound has always done great rental work for them, the hotel didn't realize we also design and install complete sound systems. One thing led to another and we won the bid for an upcoming permanent installation."
Megerssa initially planned to install a Turbosound TQ system capable of handling audio for the atrium area, the bar and the lobby areas. But what Zebra ended up doing was tying all the speakers into the hotel's DMX and AEI distributed systems, so that all the hotel staff have to do is hit a line switcher to feed music into the entire hotel, including the valet parking area. "The main part of the loudspeaker system is comprised of four QLight Series TQ-310 compact passive two-way speakers," he explained, "and two TCS-215 front-loaded subwoofer enclosures, installed in the atrium area. Then we tied in a lot of satellite systems that feed off that main sound system, relayed into different areas. We had a lot of further Turbosound gear that we used in other places." As a part of the refit, Zebra built a custom-made console with three turntables and two professional CD players, an isolator and a mixer. "When a DJ plays, you can go anywhere, including your own room where you can turn on the sound system and listen to the very same DJ."
Megerssa notes that integrating the entire system just made sound business sense: "When we get a job, we decide how our company can work with existing gear - if possible - make it useful and ultimately provide the customer with a better return on their investment. Rather than going in and recommending the hotel replace hundreds of old speakers, we decided to replace the speakers in the main areas, but kept many of the older speakers spread throughout the hotel. As a result, the W is getting so much good feedback, not just from the DJs, but from management who appreciate the sensible way we approached the job."
(Ruth Rossington)
