ALBANY, NY — Skyloft Albany has taken over the 16,000 square-foot performance venue that previously housed Rascals Steakhouse. Owned by the team behind other venues including Skyloft in Laguna Beach, CA, the new venture differentiates from Rascals in that the new owners will actually utilize the space as a live sound venue with national touring acts. With the capacity to hold several hundred people, the new owners want to capitalize on The Music Club area, which includes a massive stage, main dining area and three bars. The entertainment venue features state-of-the-art technology with a 20-foot LED wall screen, impressive concert lighting and a top of the line ISP Technologies sound system.
The 20,000-watt RMS FOH system consists of four ISP XMAX 218 subwoofers, two stereo hangs of the HDL 3112 High-Definition 3-way line arrays with flown HDL 118 High-Definition subwoofers at the top of the hang and a full complement of floor wedges, which should will more than support any national touring act with headroom to spare.
To give the rest of the venue and bar areas a high-fidelity sound experience, the new owners also kept the existing ISP Technologies patented High-Definition Distributed Systems (HDDS) gear. The key difference in the HDDS gear is sound quality. The HDDS gear runs both audio and power down a single run of Cat-6 and each speaker is powered with its own amplifier, which is said to give the speakers greater fidelity than the 70-volt systems typically used. Running the system are the HDDS Master Controls, that can handle up to six zones with up to 10 speakers on each run. The system was designed to be installed in stereo, so any seat in the venue will have an enhanced listening experience. A combination of the HDDS SB112 subwoofers, SM800, SM 652, CS651 and HDDS Pendant speakers were installed throughout the restaurant.
To get the club back up and running, Klondike Sound from Greenfield, MA, was called in to return the system back to full capacity and do an overall tuneup of the gear. With over 40 years of experience in both live sound and installation, Skyloft was in good hands. Jason Raboin, one of the principles with Klondike Sound, also purchased four new ISP XMAX 218 subwoofers to replace those that had disappeared before the new owners took possession of the club. Between the expertise of Klondike, and the made in the USA sound system from ISP Technologies, Skyloft will be a great destination for concerts for years to come.
For more info, visit isptechnologies.com.
