New Phoenix-area Venue Marks First EAW Anya Install in a Club Environment
In the heart of Scottsdale, Arizona’s entertainment district, LiveWire has quickly become one of the most sought-after venues in the Southwest. Since opening earlier this year, LiveWire has hosted national touring acts, comedians, artists, DJs and up-and-coming local bands.
Besides its diverse entertainment offerings, LiveWire is also available for corporate and private events. So in terms of selecting an audio system, the venue went first class all the way, with an Eastern Acoustic Works Anya rig.
The two-level, 14,000 square foot facility has a capacity of 1,100 and features a large dance floor, VIP booth seating, two indoor lounge areas, an outdoor patio and a raised concrete stage (15 x 30 feet or 30 x 30 feet with the extension stage) in the main room. The wrap-around, three-sided mezzanine level provides guests with an open, unobstructed view of all of the action on the first floor. The club is owned by Scottsdale-based Evening Entertainment Group (EEG). Southern California integrator Fyxx Entertainment assisted with the installation and tuning of the system.
“When we were in the process of remodeling the space, we knew we wanted it to be a multi-use room that could convert from live music to comedy to a dance club or even a corporate event,” explains Jason Jones (a.k.a. LTJ), EEG’s audio/lighting/video tech. “As a result, it needed a sound reinforcement system that was equally flexible.”
Inside Anya
Road proven in use at festivals and on major tours with acts such as Maroon 5 and Tom Petty, each three-way Anya module includes 22 customized transducers. In all, 14 HF compression drivers provide a continuous line of apertures on a horn that expands to fill the entire face of the enclosure, six 5-inch MF cone transducers combine with Concentric Summation Array technology to sum coherently with the HF wavefront, while dual 15-inch woofers use Offset Aperture loading to extend horizontal pattern control into the lower octaves.
Each Anya enclosure has 22 amplifier modules built-in, so each speaker component is powered independently. EAW’s Resolution 2 software individually controls the time/amplitude relationship between speaker components to achieve the coverage pattern required for the job, eliminating the need to physically curve the line array. The end result offers high resolution with full control.
Finding the Solution
EEG’s Jones was interested in the EAW Anya system from the beginning, but did his due diligence by checking out competitive systems before making his final decision.
“Our number one priority was sound quality but we also wanted the most current audio technology,” Jones explains. “Not only does Anya sound fantastic, but it was the only system that allowed us to make major system modifications without having to physically adjust the modules. I can use the Resolution software to direct music only to the first floor or just on the dance floor without a problem. Anything we require can easily be created with a few software modifications.”
With the decision made, Jones worked with Fyxx Entertainment’s Adrian de Pamphilis and EAW’s Application Support Group to finalize the design of a complete EAW system. EEG wanted maximum flexibility, so the system is comprised of four Anya columns — two with four modules and two having two modules. The four-module columns are hung to the left and right of the stage on an “I” beam trolley system so the columns can be moved forward when the stage extension is used. The two-module arrays are hung left/right to the rear of the room. In club mode, these two-module arrays fly down from the ceiling to the mezzanine level to create a club environment. “I think we have the only 4-point Anya setup in the world,” Jones adds.
“The ultimate club experience involves immersing our customers in sound,” says Jones. “Once the second set of arrays are lowered, all it takes is a single mouse click to adjust the system to “club” mode. Club DJs or EDM artists and are amazed with the sound and how it really adds to the club atmosphere.”
A Few Add Ons…
With a steady offering of DJ and EDM events, bass augmentation was a must. To round out the system, six EAW SB2001 dual-21subs are located under the stage in a custom-built concrete bunker. Jones notes that “even with our efforts to minimize vibration, when the bass kicks in you can see the stage vibrating slightly — those subs really deliver.”
The system also includes four EAW KF200NT speakers along the stage lip and a single QX594i mounted front and center above the stage for front fill and two KF394 NT’s — located above the Anya columns — cover the upper mezzanine seating. Eight MW12 bi-amped stage monitors and an Avid VENUE console rounds out the system.
When not hosting live bands, top-tier DJs take the stage. “We needed to have a killer DJ monitor system so when they show up, there’s no question we surpass their rider requirements,” adds DePamphillis. “We roll out two EAW Avalon CLUB.three and SUB.two speakers for DJ monitors. These would normally be used as a main speaker system, so DJ’s love it when they play this stage.”
Four 8-channel Powersoft X8 amplifiers provide 32 total channels of power (3,000 watts/ch into 4 ohms) to drive the system’s passive components, with one X8 driving the Avalon monitor rig, says Jones. “The DSP in the X8s let us install EAW Greybox tunings for the Avalon DJ monitors, tweak EQ for our specific room and still have a blank layer of EQ we can give a visiting engineer to tailor the sound for his or her artist.”
So far, all aspects of the sound reinforcement system have received high praise from visiting engineers and artists. “That was the other deciding factor,” Jones concludes. “We wanted a system that was rider friendly — and everyone we talked to agreed that an EAW system was the way to go. I couldn’t be happier with our decision.”
