D.A.S. Audio is the Source of Pristine Sound Quality at Las Vegas' Saxe TheaterLocated inside the Miracle Mile Shops of the Planet Hollywood Resort on the world famous Las Vegas Strip, the Saxe Theater is home to several of this town's most popular shows. In addition to hosting BeatleShow! - the award winning tribute to the Beatles, patrons can also see national TV headliner and America's Got Talent star, Nathan Burton; as well as the winner of BroadwayWorld.com's 2012 Resident Show of The Year: VEGAS! the Show. Entertainment is king here, so all aspects of a show must be top notch. That's precisely why the Saxe Theater recently upgraded their sound reinforcement capabilities by installing a new loudspeaker system drawn from the Aero Series 2 and Convert catalogs of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio. GC Pro, the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the requirements of professional users, was contracted to design and install the Saxe Theater's new sound system. GC Pro account manager Don Hartley, working in conjunction with Jeff Pressler, head of audio for David Saxe Productions, penned a system that consisted of eight Aero 12A powered two-way, mid-high line array modules with additional support from a pair of Convert 12A powered two-way full range loudspeakers. GC Pro's Hartley, who was closely involved in the project from early system demonstrations to the actual design and installation, discussed the project. "The Saxe Theater has a unique layout," Hartley explained. "The main area is approximately 80' by 60'. There is also an upper seating area that is oddly shaped, measuring roughly 20' wide and stretching back 40'. The theater's ceiling has an average height of 30' and the venue has a seating capacity of 420 people. Because of the combination of the lower and upper level seating areas, it was critically important that the new loudspeaker system provide consistent sound throughout all areas of the room -- with, of course, a high level of speech intelligibility and strong music reproduction characteristics." To address these concerns, Hartley and Pressler ultimately deployed the D.A.S. Aero 12A line array elements in a flown left - right configuration, with each side of the main stage area having four enclosures. The two Convert 12A loudspeakers were installed as rear fill for the upper level triangular area, which also resides behind the front-of-house mix position. "The self-powered loudspeakers make a terrific solution for this type of venue," Hartley elaborated. "The Aero 12A loudspeakers provide a very streamlined installation in terms of system cabling while also ensuring that all amplification is optimized for the transducer complement." With the D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A, the captive rigging system splay angles range from 0- to 10-degrees and can be adjusted in 0.5-degree increments from 0-degrees to 3-degrees and 1-degree increments from 3-degrees to 10-degrees -- allowing a wide range of column curvatures to be created. Hartley was very complimentary of the integrated hardware's design. "The flyware on the Aero 12A loudspeakers is excellent," he reports. "The design makes it quick and easy to connect the various enclosures together and to adjust the pins to ensure the proper positioning of each individual enclosure. It's a very well-designed system with great flexibility." Hartley was equally complimentary of D.A.S. Audio's customer and technical support services, "I've always been impressed with how informative and easy-to-reach D.A.S. Audio's customer services team is. I considered it very important that the loudspeaker provider have our backs throughout the entire design and installation process, and D.A.S. came through with flying colors. Carlos Henao, D.A.S. Audio's US accounts manager, was extremely helpful. He helped me set up a demonstration system for Jeff Pressler and his front-of-house engineer, Mariano and, later, came back to do a second demo at the theatre where multiple producers were able to hear how the system would sound. You can't ask for more than that!" The Saxe Theater's new sound system was deployed and placed into service this past June and since that time, the system has been very well received. "Our new D.A.S. sound system is performing wonderfully," reports Pressler. "The Aero 12A line array covers the theatre evenly and sounds great in all applications. One show may use only a lapel mic while Vegas! the Show has 20 live pieces. This system can handle anything we throw at it. The Convert fill speakers do an equally impressive job in the upstairs area where some guests are 80' from the stage. Our new system provides a clean, full sound that really helps our shows deliver the excitement."
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