The Mayflower Club in Washington, DC, with a heritage dating back to the U.S. prohibition era, recently underwent an extensive renovation that includes new sound reinforcement utilizing a host of DAS Audio loudspeakers, including models from the E11EVEN Sound, Artec, Arco, and Vantec Series driven by a range of the company’s power amplifiers.
Club owner Antonis Karagounis and his team worked closely with DAS Audio’s John Fiorito on the project. The venue’s main floor is an upscale restaurant that turns into a nightclub at 11 pm each evening, while the second floor, geared to private events, provides a more intimate dining experience and features two bars. The third floor is an indoor/outdoor rooftop lounge with a retractable roof dubbed Zebbie’s Garden, which pays homage to the original 1930’s-era speakeasy owner, Zachariah ‘Zebbie’ Goldsmith.
Upon entering the main dining/bar area, guests are greeted by a system employing six E11EVEN Sound ES-10 2-way point source loudspeakers, eight Artec-306 2-way enclosures, and four Arco-24 loudspeakers. Low frequency support is provided by a combination of eight Quantum series Q-10 compact subwoofers and three Vantec-218 bass reflex subwoofers. Completing the setup, there’s also a pair of Artec-510A loudspeakers that are used as monitors for the DJ.
On the second-floor mezzanine area, sound is provided by a combination of four Artec-326 enclosures, one Vantec-218 bass reflex subwoofer, eight Artec-306 2-way loudspeakers, and four Q-10 compact subwoofers. Regardless of the area, Fiorito was focused on one clear goal: “Each room is designed to provide the utmost clarity, ability to feel the music, and still be able to hold a conversation.”
Moving up to the third floor indoor/outdoor rooftop area, the indoor portion of the space is covered by a dozen compact loudspeakers and six sub bass enclosures that were re-purposed from the prior installation. Similarly, the outside patio area also uses some additional enclosures like the ones on the inside area.
However, the outside area also includes a pair of DAS E11EVEN Sound ESBR218 dual 18-inch, bass reflex subwoofers and four Quantec Q-10 compact subwoofers. And, the DJ station includes two Artec-510A loudspeakers and a pair of Artec-S15A subwoofers.
Rounding out the installation, the equipment rack includes five DAS EP-2K4 4 channel Class D power amplifiers, six EP-8K4 4 channel Class D power amplifiers, one EP-10K4 4 channel Class D power amplifier, and one EP-22K4 4-channel Class D power amplifier. Also in the equipment rack is a Furman PL-Plus series power conditioner and both a BSS Audio BLU-100 signal processor and a BLU-BOB Break-Out Box output expander for signal management. System control is managed by an Apple iPad, which enables users to play any music source in every room simultaneously or by individual selection/zone.
