Built into the ground floor of the parking structure of the 2,050-seat Smith Center for the Performing Arts sits the new Vic’s Las Vegas jazz club and lounge. The intimate venue, which opened on Feb. 10, 2023, is designed to present a wide range of music (notably local and nationally acclaimed jazz artists) with intelligible, impactful and tonally balanced sound. Vic’s was designed by architect Adrian Jones of Jones, Greenwold LLC | Architecture & Design, with acoustical design by Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award-winning Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics – a division of RDA NYC.
The acoustics of Vic’s were created with three goals in mind — to present the audience with a intimate and amazing listening experience, to provide musicians a stage where they can hear each other and to support the production team in getting great sound reinforcement and world-class recordings.
The acoustical design of the 8,560 square-foot venue includes the use of both sound absorbing surfaces and sound scattering surfaces. The scattering surfaces (sound diffusers) are located at the rear, sides and above the stage. These panels are designed to spread sound out, reducing strong reflections and creating a more even distribution of sound — helpful to allow musicians and the audience to hear accurately. These diffusers also act to make the stage a better acoustical environment for microphones used for sound reinforcement and recording. The acoustical diffusers were manufactured by Realacoustix of Ogden, UT (realacoustixllc.com).
All That Noise
One often-overlooked challenge in venue design is the need to reduce noise emanating from air-conditioning systems and air handling infrastructure. Both the rumble of air conditioning units, and the “whooshing” sound of airflow can degrade the listening experience. The HVAC system for Vic’s was designed to achieve a performing arts-grade ambient noise level of below NC-20 (NC stands for Noise Criteria, a single value metric based on human hearing to quantify background noise levels).
The sound system for Vic’s is intended to provide extremely high quality sound reinforcement. Employing all Alcons Audio (alconsaudio.com) components, the sound system is based on three two-way VR12 mains with neodymium drivers hung in a horizontal configuration (thanks to its rotatable waveguide) and two BG121 subwoofers with 12″ low-frequency drivers placed under the stage. The P.A. system — which can be run in left-right-center (LCR) mode or as left/right with an assignable center channel — was designed by the Vic’s production team, working with Alcons and SIA Acoustics, and offers smooth, balanced coverage to every seat in the wide room. The VR12s feature Alcon’s proprietary RBN601 high-frequency Pro-Ribbon Driver, which provides excellent transient response with high-frequency articulation and detail — a critical feature for the low-distortion reproduction of acoustic instruments.
Named after “Vic” — the famous giant (40-foot) neon cowboy landmark on Fremont Street — Vic’s Las Vegas (vicslasvegas.com) is located at 355 Promenade Place and will feature a lineup of both local and nationally acclaimed jazz artists.
About Sam Berkow
Sam Berkow’s SIA Acoustics has designed acoustics for numerous performance spaces worldwide. Among these are: Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC), The SFJazz Center (San Francisco), Jazz St. Louis (St. Louis), The Jazz Standard (NYC), eTown Hall (Boulder, CO), and many others. In Las Vegas, SIA Acoustics has acted as the acoustical designer for many projects, including: The Pearl at the Palms, Legacy Studios (Henderson, NV), The Culture Kings Studio (at Caesars Palace) and Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas.
Berkow is also known as the developer of the SIA-Smaart Acoustics Measurement software system, the leading acoustical measurement and system optimization tool worldwide. He has received many industry awards, including three TEC Awards for Technical Excellence in Room and Software Design, as well as the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation in audio and acoustics.
For more info, visit: www.siaacoustics.com
