CLIFTON, NJ — Formerly known as "Joey's Night Club," the Bliss nightclub in Clifton, NJ, was completely renovated before reopening, with design by Pedro Pons and lighting by Dougie Lazer. As described by Joe Lodi, owner and chief designer of Advanced Audio Technology, the old sound system consisted of "a large number of primitive boxes, each the size of a refrigerator and with the sound quality of an AM radio." Lodi and his partner and head of installation, Angelo Poulos, designed and installed the new sound system, which hinges on eight TA-500 and eight TSW-218 Turbosound Aspect Series loudspeakers and subwoofers. Explained Lodi, "The system that we designed could have done a club twice the size of Bliss, but we believe strongly in having ample headroom for any situation. More so than any other loudspeaker that I have ever auditioned, the Aspect Series speakers hold together and sound amazing at high volumes."
The dance floor at Bliss is 40 feet by 60 feet with 16-foot ceilings. Lodi positioned four Turbosound TA-500s on each side of the dance floor across its length, about 12 feet off the ground and pitched down 30 degrees. Each TA-500 is comprised of a 15-inch low-frequency horn, a 10-inch mid-frequency horn and a two-inch high-frequency horn. Both the mid- and high-frequency horns employ Turbosound's Polyhorn system. Lodi topped off the high end with four EAW slot tweeter arrays, which were positioned slightly in front of the TA-500s and correspondingly delayed.
Lodi explained, "What's really cool about the Aspect Series speakers is that you don't lose any frequencies off-axis. So when you're not on the dance floor, the music still sounds just as good, just not as loud."
Lodi chose to amplify the Turbosound TA-500s and EAW slot tweeters with MC2 amplifiers. He used two E15, 1500-watt amplifiers to power the slot tweeters and the two-inch high frequencies separately; two E25 2500-watt amplifiers to power the 10-inch mid drivers together; and one E45 4500-watt amplifier to power the 15-inch low frequency drivers. Two XTA DP226 units provide loudspeaker system processing and control.
Lodi positioned the dual 18-inch horn-loaded Turbosound TSW-218 subwoofers in blocks of four adjacent to the dance floor and powered them with two Crest 9001 4100-watt and two MC2 E45 4500-watt amplifiers.
Ironically, the old sound system's lack of punch hid the building's architectural failing, which revealed itself when Bliss started working the subwoofers on 140-peak dB nights. The club is currently in the process of building a suspended, decoupled ceiling and a double front wall with a door vestibule.
For more information, visit www.turbosound.com.
