MIAMI — Aero Bar co-owners Tony Guerra and Joseph “Smiley” Boyd were looking for sound that would offer more than just a stinging assault on the ears. “For me, sound is not all monetary,” said Boyd. “It’s also spiritual. I really love good sound.”
They hired architect Matt Peterson to design the 5,500-square foot curvilinear room, and Alex Caballero, principal of Audio Systems Consulting, designed the audio system using eight Danley Sound Labs SH-50 loudspeakers and four TH-215 subwoofers.
Consistent with that avowal, they built Aero Bar with an 18-degree pitch on the walls and few right angles. Eschewing the less-desirable acoustical properties of concrete and steel, Boyd had Aero Bar built almost entirely of wood.
Caballero had heard Danley sound systems and was eager to give them a try. Boyd, on the other hand, was nervous about the idea. “The night club industry is controlled by certain brand names,” Caballero said. “People don’t stray too far from them if only because that’s what they know.”
“It’s true,” Boyd said. “Even after I was convinced Danley was right for Aero Bar, the ‘hard sell’ people told me they’d catch on fire the first time I opened them up. I had two sound companies come through here and swear up and down that the Danleys were going to fail. They said, ‘that’s a church sound system.’ I said, ‘well, when our doors open up, you’ll see the people converting to my religion!’”
What convinced Boyd, Guerra, and everyone else behind Aero Bar was a direct, head-to-head comparison between Danley and every other manufacturer of consequence in the club industry. Danley supported the effort by driving a rig down from Georgia on a truck.
“As soon as I heard the Danleys I knew we found our speaker,” said Boyd. “I had never heard that kind of clarity in a PA system before.”
Caballero specified eight Danley SH-50 full-range loudspeakers, four Danley TH-115 subwoofers, and two repurposed Funktion-One F221 subwoofers in a “four corner” stereo configuration. Two SH-50s were positioned in each corner of the room, providing a combined 50-degree by 100-degree coverage.
Their small size per output was part of the sell, and allows them to work in Aero Bar’s intimate setting without dominating the space.
The Danley subwoofers sit at the front of the room, just steps from the DJ booth and arrayed for directional propagation, whereas the Funktion-One subs sit at the back of the room. Crown 3600 VLZ and Crest Pro Series 9001 amplifiers power the system.
“The Danleys are abundantly punchy and smooth,” said Boyd. “The bass is really throaty and the clarity is unparalleled. It’s like listening on nice stereo speakers in a nice room. The Danleys deliver the real sound. Our house and open-format music sounds fantastic and anything with vocals is especially vibrant.”
Part of what separates Danley is a design that improves phase coherence and pattern control. “Danley says the SH-50s are 50 by 50 degrees, and they really are,” said Caballero. “That allowed me to concentrate the sound where I wanted it without bouncing sound all over the room.”
“One of the things I love about our system is that you can feel the bass moving through your body, but you can still have a conversation,” said Boyd. “That was important to me. I want people to be able to chat. With some of these places around here you end up screaming at the bartender for your drink and all that stupid stuff. I’m happy that Aero Bar is different.
“We’re starting to get other venues coming through to check out our Danleys,” he added. “It’s hard to explain how perfectly maintenance-free they’ve been. They’re just dialed-in and running. No blown drivers, no sketchy cables, and certainly no fires. Just pure, loud, blissful sound that treats your ears with respect.”
For more information, please visit www.danleysoundlabs.com.
