The Touring Company Store is a new retail concept located in the SoHo area of Manhattan.
On paper, it’s a retail store selling indie designers products in addition to some conventional fare in an environment that looks and feels like the backstage of a concert area.
This is, however, more than just a retail operation. The store is also an advocate of independent designers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, and all other forms of independent self-expression.
With a desire for top notch sound and wanting the appearance of a concert loudspeaker setup, store management recently selected a sound reinforcement system from D.A.S. Audio.
Luis Lojo, an independent sound engineer and system designer based in the New York area, was contracted to design and install the store’s new loudspeaker setup.
After reviewing products from a variety of manufacturers, Lojo and the Touring Company Store management ultimately selected a system drawn primarily from D.A.S. Audio’s Variant catalog.
The new sound reinforcement system consists of six Variant 25A powered, 2-way, mid-high line array elements, two Variant 18A powered subwoofers, and ten D.A.S. Audio CL-6TB 2-way, passive, full range ceiling loudspeakers that are powered by a D.A.S. Audio CSA-600T power amplifier.
The loudspeaker system is used for both live performance and background music/paging applications.
“The Touring Company Store has a unique atmosphere that really feels like you’re back stage at a concert,” said Lojo. “For this reason, management wanted the sound system to resemble the line array setups that are frequently used in big concert settings.”
“The retail space, itself, is rather long and narrow—roughly 70 feet long by 30 feet wide—with a stage along the length of the room, but not quite situated in the middle. I knew that a large line array system would be overkill and too cost prohibitive, but upon examining the D.A.S. Variant system, I felt this would be the perfect fit.”
“Being a line array system, the Variant loudspeakers had the right look and the fact that the equipment is designed specifically for permanent installations made it ideal.”
“There are three Variant 25A’s facing the entrance—and these cover the longest area of the store,” Lojo said. “I then positioned another two Variant 25A’s facing the opposite direction into the shorter segment of the space while the remaining Variant 25A faces straight out toward the opposing wall.”
“The two D.A.S. Audio Variant 18A subwoofers are suspended from the trussing at the stage. This arrangement provided the best overall coverage throughout the room.”
“The D.A.S. Variant loudspeakers are a terrific package,” he said. “Everything has a high quality look and feel to it and the sound quality is excellent—considerably bigger sounding than I initially expected. I was also very impressed with the included hardware, which made the installation come together quickly.”
