Void Incubus Loudspeaker System Installed at The Church, Denver

Void Acoustics' US distributor, Audio Integration Services, has completed a substantial overhaul of the sound system at The Church, Denver, transforming the venue into an outstanding showcase for the UK-based professional loudspeaker brand.

The new loudspeaker system consists of Incubus Air Array, Nexus 6, and StasysX Air products.

Planning on The Church project started many months prior to the install, consisting of several site surveys, floor plan drawings, and acoustic simulations. Even traffic patterns on busy nights were analyzed, according to Audio Integration Services' owner Matt Edgar, who along with senior engineer Nathan Short and steel fabrication expert Halen Parsi, spent four days on site observing and planning. They finally put forward three major design ideas that they felt would be the most effective in the venue.

"The room is very old, with a unique and tremendous layout," comments Edgar. "The church was built in 1865 and has housed a number of nightclubs and ideas in the last 20 years under the same successful owners. It badly needed an upgrade, and while other clubs in town had upgraded to some big systems, a recommendation brought them to contact Audio Integration Services.

"Void's outstanding and completely unique looks, along with its sound quality, was really the deciding factor of this install," he says. "The new sound system had to make a strong visual and sonic impact."

After several iterations of the acoustic simulations, and with extensive support from Void's chief design engineer Rog Mogale, the final main dance floor system was decided upon: two Air Arrays form the main left and right arrays, with two Nexus 6 fills located at left and right about 38' back from the main arrays. A directional mono bass array was constructed out of a steel reinforced concrete enclosure, housing six StasysX Air subwoofers, that also serves as the DJ booth. Two Airten V2s were installed as DJ monitors with two Viper 18" subs for low end. VIP fills were also added, consisting of two dual clusters of Venue 12 passive models.

Processing of the main floor was handled by a Xillica Uno 8x16, with a custom preset suite of modules programmed by Short and Xillica's support engineers. Amplification was provided by Tactical Audio Class H amplifiers on the main audio system. Some Crown amplifiers were also salvaged and serviced from the previous install, and these powered the six Stasys X Air in bridged mode, each on its own 30A AC circuit.

A great deal of attention was paid to the AC power supply system logistics in the form of a brand new 240A service to ensure robust current supply at all times. The entire audio system operates on the turn of one master key, ensuring that the amplifiers and processors turn on in their respective planned order and off in the same manner. With its own completely dedicated mains power the Void system is totally noise free.

"One of the major constraints we had on this project was the potential for bass frequencies to bleed into the neighbor's condominiums," explains Short. "However by careful positioning and arraying of the subs in the concrete bunker our simulations indicated a potential 30db reduction in low end at the alley behind the building where there had been major problems before, and this turned out to be exactly the case as measured."

"Other than that, the commissioning of the system went really smoothly," he continues. "We had the room tuned in no more than an hour. The preliminary work we put in really paid off, as the simulations showed we could get very strong energy and exceptionally even coverage on the dance floor area while dropping off nicely outside of that. The system is very focused, with a tight, long bass pattern leading to a marvelous sound. We used Systune extensively to align all the boxes and horns and to remove room modes, and the result is simply amazing! The visual impression as you walk into the venue is astounding and sets it apart from any other."

"Needless to say, the new Void system has an intentional 30% headroom built in that we will probably never use. This allows us to run clear, beautiful, dynamic sound without ever stressing the components -- and this is the hallmark of our robust install practice."