Berwyn, a western suburb of Chicago, has its share of up-and-coming music clubs on Roosevelt Road. The most recent addition, Wire, opened last fall in the former Oakwyn Theater.
Built in 1934 and formerly a mid-century movie house and Teamsters union hall, the 10,000-square-foot space has been completely renovated with an expansive rebuild to house the 400-seat club as well as a mezzanine level with offices, recording studio and VIP area. Further setting Wire apart from the other venues in the area is a RoomMatch loudspeaker system from Bose Professional Systems.
Installed by regional professional audio integrator TC Furlong, Inc., the system is composed of four RM9020 modules, two RM12020 modules, an RM7010 module and two RMS218 subwoofers. These are powered by four Bose PowerMatch PM8500N networked amplifiers and managed by the Bose ControlSpace ESP-00 engineered sound processor, using four ESP Link I/O cards.
“Roosevelt Road is becoming a real destination for live music in the area,” observes Brian O’Connell, TC Furlong sales manager and the project manager for the installation at Wire. “But the club had some very specific requirements. In addition to demanding great sound, we wanted to fly the speakers to keep the sightlines as unobstructed as possible. The RoomMatch speakers are the only ones that could give us the sound we needed in the right profile.”
There were also some reflection issues off the sides of brick-faced interior walls. The application of the Bose Modeler sound system software quickly determined precisely the right RoomMatch loudspeaker configuration with exactly the right dispersion and coverage patterns for this room.
“It sounds more like a concert hall than a club,” says O’Connell, who adds that while this was TC Furlong’s first RoomMatch system installation, it certainly won’t be its last. “This system sounds fantastic, to us and to the club’s owners and everyone who’s been there.”
Chris Neville, Managing Partner at Wire, stated, “Our partnership is made up entirely of musicians, and as such, great sound in our venue was our number-one priority. After looking at several options, the Bose RoomMatch system clearly stood out as the most flexible system out there, as well as offering the best clarity. Bose has been fantastic to work with too – they had their engineers working with us right up until we opened to make sure that the system met and exceeded our needs. The response has been unanimous among the musicians and patrons alike – this is the best sounding live venue system in the city!”
Fellow Managing Partner Paul Bolger added, “The vocal intelligibility and even coverage are unparalleled!”
