SALT LAKE CITY – Performance Audio redesigned and reconfigured the audio system at Gracie's Bar in downtown Salt Lake City, using Ashly Audio's two-rack space pêma integrated DSP + amplifier to bring the sound system in line.
"In some respects, Gracie's had too much stuff, and yet it wasn't enough," said Levi Walker, systems manager at Performance Audio. "It was a hodgepodge of different gear that didn't integrate very well. As a result, it was difficult to control. They wanted something simpler and more predictable."
The two-rack space Ashly pêma, which features Protea DSP and either four or eight amplifiers channels of either 125 or 250 watts each, proved a good fit for Gracie's space and budget constraints.
Walker also simplified the speaker setup, replacing the odd eggs with Electro-Voice Evid 6.2 and 4.2 units in the more high-profile locations. To improve coverage throughout, he added Atlas Sound FAP-series ceiling-mounted full-range loudspeakers and subwoofers.
The Ashly pêma 8250.70 delivers 250 watts to each of eight separate zones. Perhaps most significantly from the bar staff's perspective, Walker gave them four Ashly WR-5 remote controls. That way, the staff can select inputs for the various zones and to easily adjust their volumes. Walker also provided an Archos wireless tablet that can control the system from anywhere, including the owner's office.
"There's really nothing else on the market that combines DSP and amplifier technology so powerfully or so compactly as the Ashly pêma," said Walker. "The product is very easy to work with from an installation standpoint. There are fewer things to connect and fewer pieces that can go wrong. And programming it was straightforward. I'm especially impressed that the pêma we installed delivers eight channels at 250 watts each. And it only takes up two rack spaces! It's really the ideal solution for distributed audio in bars, restaurants, retail spaces, and the like."
For more information, please visit www.ashly.com.
