SAN FRANCISCO – BeatBox, a new venue for live music, dance parties, performances, art exhibits, meetings and community events, has been equipped with Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers. Founders Andy Zivic, Paul Saccone and Tchukon Shanks chose the gear, not just for its audio quality, but for its ability to avoid disturbing residents nearby.
Matt Long, principal of Sonic Sustenance, demoed SH-50 full-range boxes and TH-115 subwoofers for the owners at the venue. "They were totally blown away," he said, noting that they chose the Danley option even though it was far from the least expensive bid.
"We knew that great sounding music was going to be a critical component of our success," Saccone said, citing "phenomenal" bass response and "the unmistakable clarity across the frequency range. It was a very noticeable improvement over every other club system we had ever heard." Saccone also noted that, "apart from the issue of great fidelity, we knew the sound system at BeatBox had to be kind to our neighbors."
BeatBox occupies renovated warehouse space in San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood. It features a 25-foot ceiling, a private mezzanine, exposed brick, exposed steel latticework and a long line of skylights that can be unveiled when desired. The 30-by-10-foot modular stage can be configured in different ways within the LED-lit space – as a tall stack for a DJ, for example, or as a long thrust for a fashion show.
After careful consideration of the exact dimensions of BeatBox, Long ultimately installed four Danley SH-60 full-range loudspeakers and four Danley TH-118 subwoofers. The boxes move with the stage and deliver stereo sound with clear imaging.
On each side of the stage, paired SH-60s deliver a combined 120 degrees of coverage horizontally and 60 degrees of coverage vertically. Depending on the stage orientation, the subwoofers either combine as a mono cluster or split for a true stereo signal, top to bottom. Powersoft amplifiers with integrated DSP and network accessibility serve as a front-end for the system.
"The pattern control of Danley full-range boxes is something that continues to amaze me," said Long. "In the standard stage position, the seams between each pair of SH-60s fires right through the thick of the dance floor. Yet when you walk that seam, you can't hear it.
"The Danley coverage is so tight that I could actually hear a two-inch gap on the dance floor when the speakers had drifted 3/4-inch apart [prior to being permanently installed]," Long continued. "I pushed the speakers back together, and the gap went away."
The same pattern control promises to keep energy on the dance floor and away from the doors, walls, and windows… and away from the neighbors.
If nearby residents haven't had much to say about how the new system sounds, it's a common topic of discussion among BeatBox regulars. "The main response we get is that BeatBox sounds great and doesn't hurt, even when it's full-on dance party loud," said Saccone. "Moreover, it sounds great whether we're doing a dance party, a rock show, jazz, or spoken word."
Long added that the Danley installation, the first of its kind on the West Coast, is proving a good way to let people hear the gear in a live setting. "It's only been up for a month, and already, I've given 28 demos at BeatBox," he noted.
For more information, please visit www.danleysoundlabs.com.
