Turbosound installations

Bikini

Venue: Bikini
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Venue-type: Nightclub
Loudspeaker systems:
QLight™ series
TCS series

In a corner of Bikini's nightclub at The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas is a place where that famous international man of mystery, Austin Powers, would feel right at home.

Bikinis / The Wave nominated for best sound system (extract from Club Systems International):
- When a new dance club is able to drop $50,000 on 'extras' like giant lava lamps, you can imagine how stoked the guy responsible for its sound system would get. But before he started designing a dream rig, Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave and Turbosound's man in Las Vegas, enjoyed the scenery into which it would be installed: Bikinis is a five-room, 14,000 square-foot beach-themed facility with a fully sunken dancefloor and elevated stage in its large main room, a '60's-themed lounge with nine five-foot tall lava lamps and wall-to-wall shag carpeting, an entryway featuring real sand and showers to 'cool off' the scantily clad employees, and even tiki torches and dunk tanks.

Building on Crest power and BSS Soundweb control (with three jellyfish throughout), Fisher installed Turbosound QLight series speakers exclusively. Eight TQ-440 three-ways and six of their partners, the TQ-425 double-15-inch subs, handle the main room; while two TCS-59 12-inch two-ways take care of the adjacent VIP room. The lounge room next door has two more TCS-59's and is entirely open to the main dance area. The result is the ultimate beach party sound system, heavy on the bottom and transparent on top... unlike the shot-toting 'lifeguard' girls.

The club's so-called "60s Room" has all the sights and sounds of that tumultuous time: lime green shag carpeting, nine lava lamps that measure five feet high by ten inches wide and a DJ whose period music selection rivals that of any vintage rock radio station. Maybe the only sense not engaged in eliciting vivid memories of that era is the olfactory - conspicuously absent for the true refugee of that era.

But it's not all about the 60's at Bikini's, which opened last October. Throughout the rest of the 12,000 square-foot facility, patrons dance to a more contemporary sound and party in the thoroughly modern atmosphere of one of the Strip's most popular nightclubs. The sound system at Bikini's leaves no doubt that it's firmly planted in the 21st century. Designed by The Wave, a Las Vegas audio contractor that has left its mark on many a Las Vegas nightclub in recent years, the system employs some of the leading loudspeaker, amplifier and sound processing and control equipment around.

Prominent is a range of Turbosound loudspeakers. Numbering thirty in all, the speakers provide distinct coverage for the club's six audio zones covering five rooms, each of which are configured differently and have unique sound needs. Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave, made Turbosound his speaker of choice based on their range of performance and sound quality. Four different models were used, each uniquely qualified to address the sound and physical space requirements of each zone.

"One of the biggest areas of challenge in the club was the sunken dance floor and its lower ceiling," Fisher said. "I needed a small, powerful box for night club sound - one that wouldn't hang so low over the dance floor to detract from the room ambience, interfere with dancing or just have the sound rattle the dancer's eardrums. That's where the QLight series speakers shine. It's a great sounding, small speaker at both high and low levels."

For the club's largest area - the main room and dance floor - Fisher installed eight TQ-440 mid-high cabinets suspended from the ceiling. He placed six TQ-425 subwoofers on the floor - two on the dance platform area and four in concrete cavities in close proximity to the dance area. The speakers are powered by a mix of Crest amplifiers, including three of powerful 9001's, two 8001's and two 7001's.

In the 60s room, Fisher opted for self-powered versions of the same cabinets used in the main room. Four TQ-425SP subs and four TQ-440SP speakers were selected because of the room's unique sound needs and the economic and space advantages of going with speakers with built-in amplification. "The 60s room doesn't play quite as hard core a style of music as the rest of the club, so using the beefy Crest amplifiers would have been a bit of overkill. The self-powered TQs "provide just the right amount of power," Fisher said. "With crossover, limiting and EQ built in, the TQ-400 series allowed us to redistribute some of the club's audio budget to other areas and kept rack space at a minimum."

For the club's main entrance area, as well as a VIP lounge situated nearby, Fisher utilised two TCS-59 speakers in each area. "They provide a little more direct sound, but they're clean and not overpowering for this atmosphere," he said. Finally, in a "retail" area that fronts to the inside of the casino, Fisher installed two TCS-40 speakers, one of which is directed into the casino area and serves as a lure to attract casino patrons to sample the club.

Another impressive element of the club's sound system is the amount of control that was built in. Fisher installed a BSS Soundweb system utilising three jellyfish remotes connected to the controller via CAT 5 cable. The jellyfish, one in the 60s room, one near the front entrance, and the third adjacent to the door of the equipment rack area, gives the club's engineers easy and quick access to control over inputs and outputs for all of the club's zones.

"As an all-inclusive sound processing box, the Soundweb does it all in a big domain - all the crossover, limiting and all EQ functions for the unpowered speakers," he said. "It handles DJ stereo input from the main room and the 60s room, as well as a five disc CD player for the bar area, as well as a DMX system. With the jellyfish, anyone with an access code can easily select a zone and change the source or instantly route a source to a zone, as well as adjust volume from a four-by-six LCD panel on the controller."

Fisher noted Bikini's was recently nominated by Club Systems International for best club sound system. As Austin Powers might say, "groovy, baby."

	Bikini

	Venue: Bikini Location: Las Vegas, USA Venue-type: Nightclub Loudspeaker systems: QLight™ series TCS series

	In a corner of Bikini's nightclub at The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas is a place where that famous international man of mystery, Austin Powers, would feel right at home. Bikinis / The Wave nominated for best sound system (extract from Club Systems International): - When a new dance club is able to drop $50,000 on 'extras' like giant lava lamps, you can imagine how stoked the guy responsible for its sound system would get. But before he started designing a dream rig, Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave and Turbosound's man in Las Vegas, enjoyed the scenery into which it would be installed: Bikinis is a five-room, 14,000 square-foot beach-themed facility with a fully sunken dancefloor and elevated stage in its large main room, a '60's-themed lounge with nine five-foot tall lava lamps and wall-to-wall shag carpeting, an entryway featuring real sand and showers to 'cool off' the scantily clad employees, and even tiki torches and dunk tanks. Building on Crest power and BSS Soundweb control (with three jellyfish throughout), Fisher installed Turbosound QLight series speakers exclusively. Eight TQ-440 three-ways and six of their partners, the TQ-425 double-15-inch subs, handle the main room; while two TCS-59 12-inch two-ways take care of the adjacent VIP room. The lounge room next door has two more TCS-59's and is entirely open to the main dance area. The result is the ultimate beach party sound system, heavy on the bottom and transparent on top... unlike the shot-toting 'lifeguard' girls. The club's so-called "60s Room" has all the sights and sounds of that tumultuous time: lime green shag carpeting, nine lava lamps that measure five feet high by ten inches wide and a DJ whose period music selection rivals that of any vintage rock radio station. Maybe the only sense not engaged in eliciting vivid memories of that era is the olfactory - conspicuously absent for the true refugee of that era. But it's not all about the 60's at Bikini's, which opened last October. Throughout the rest of the 12,000 square-foot facility, patrons dance to a more contemporary sound and party in the thoroughly modern atmosphere of one of the Strip's most popular nightclubs. The sound system at Bikini's leaves no doubt that it's firmly planted in the 21st century. Designed by The Wave, a Las Vegas audio contractor that has left its mark on many a Las Vegas nightclub in recent years, the system employs some of the leading loudspeaker, amplifier and sound processing and control equipment around. Prominent is a range of Turbosound loudspeakers. Numbering thirty in all, the speakers provide distinct coverage for the club's six audio zones covering five rooms, each of which are configured differently and have unique sound needs. Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave, made Turbosound his speaker of choice based on their range of performance and sound quality. Four different models were used, each uniquely qualified to address the sound and physical space requirements of each zone. "One of the biggest areas of challenge in the club was the sunken dance floor and its lower ceiling," Fisher said. "I needed a small, powerful box for night club sound - one that wouldn't hang so low over the dance floor to detract from the room ambience, interfere with dancing or just have the sound rattle the dancer's eardrums. That's where the QLight series speakers shine. It's a great sounding, small speaker at both high and low levels." For the club's largest area - the main room and dance floor - Fisher installed eight TQ-440 mid-high cabinets suspended from the ceiling. He placed six TQ-425 subwoofers on the floor - two on the dance platform area and four in concrete cavities in close proximity to the dance area. The speakers are powered by a mix of Crest amplifiers, including three of powerful 9001's, two 8001's and two 7001's. In the 60s room, Fisher opted for self-powered versions of the same cabinets used in the main room. Four TQ-425SP subs and four TQ-440SP speakers were selected because of the room's unique sound needs and the economic and space advantages of going with speakers with built-in amplification. "The 60s room doesn't play quite as hard core a style of music as the rest of the club, so using the beefy Crest amplifiers would have been a bit of overkill. The self-powered TQs "provide just the right amount of power," Fisher said. "With crossover, limiting and EQ built in, the TQ-400 series allowed us to redistribute some of the club's audio budget to other areas and kept rack space at a minimum." For the club's main entrance area, as well as a VIP lounge situated nearby, Fisher utilised two TCS-59 speakers in each area. "They provide a little more direct sound, but they're clean and not overpowering for this atmosphere," he said. Finally, in a "retail" area that fronts to the inside of the casino, Fisher installed two TCS-40 speakers, one of which is directed into the casino area and serves as a lure to attract casino patrons to sample the club. Another impressive element of the club's sound system is the amount of control that was built in. Fisher installed a BSS Soundweb system utilising three jellyfish remotes connected to the controller via CAT 5 cable. The jellyfish, one in the 60s room, one near the front entrance, and the third adjacent to the door of the equipment rack area, gives the club's engineers easy and quick access to control over inputs and outputs for all of the club's zones. "As an all-inclusive sound processing box, the Soundweb does it all in a big domain - all the crossover, limiting and all EQ functions for the unpowered speakers," he said. "It handles DJ stereo input from the main room and the 60s room, as well as a five disc CD player for the bar area, as well as a DMX system. With the jellyfish, anyone with an access code can easily select a zone and change the source or instantly route a source to a zone, as well as adjust volume from a four-by-six LCD panel on the controller." Fisher noted Bikini's was recently nominated by Club Systems International for best club sound system. As Austin Powers might say, "groovy, baby."