Study Hall

On The Same Wavelength

An entrepreneur merging the worlds of suds, STEM and sound.

Hans Haas is passionate about many things, particularly audio, science and technology, and brewing beer. It’s a combination that led him open Wavelength Brewery last year in Vista, CA.

But describing Wavelength as “just” a brewery would do it and Haas a disservice, because the venue is also becoming a hub for technology education in the Vista area.

Haas’ career has taken winding path, starting in the tech world as a network engineer. “That became boring real fast,” he says. “I then got a job in home AV, but my real passion for sound didn’t start until I began working at Sound Image (in nearby Escondido). It was like starting over in terms of my audio and video knowledge. I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn, and I was fortunate enough to find myself in a situation where I could learn from the best.”

“I worked full time at Sound Image for about a decade,” he continues, “first as an AV technician then as an engineer for the touring division doing local events, and eventually working as a project manager in the contracting division. Some of the systems we built still blow my mind when I think about it. I’ll always have a passion for pro sound.”

Something New
Little did Haas know that his tenure at Sound Image would eventually lead him to the Wavelength Brewery. “I wanted to combine my love of craft beer with my love for science and technology,” he explains. “The concept of Wavelength took a while to take shape and come to fruition. I had been a home brewer for about 10 years and thought I had some good recipes. I was lucky enough to have willing taste testers at the Sound Image Christmas parties, and that helped me further develop the recipes.

“In fact, it was at a Sound Image Christmas party that I met James Petti, my business partner and our head brewer, who was brewing for the Karl Strauss Brewing Company at the time. We got to talking after he tried one of my beers and four years later we opened Wavelength. We’re trying to do something new here, so there really isn’t a playbook.”

A tech talk in progress at Wavelength, supported by VUE compact line arrays flown left and right.

When Haas refers to trying to do “something new,” he’s referring to the brewery’s ongoing program of “tech talks” that usually take place on Friday evenings beginning at 8 pm. “We’ve had astrophysicists, mathematicians, chemists, engineers and cosmologists, just to name a few,” says Haas. “It’s typically a 25-minute presentation followed up with a Q and A. The talks have been well received, and we’re fortunate to have hosted so many great presenters.”

Commensurate Audio
Opening the brewery in what had been an antique store since 1940s required a complete re-make of the space. He also wanted a quality sound reinforcement system for the tasting room that would provide the desired intelligibility for the tech talks and that would also open the door to a wider variety of events, including music. Haas was familiar with VUE Audiotechnik (also based in Escondido) from when the company was in its infancy.

“I remember hearing about VUE from its inception when they were still prototyping,” he recalls. “The first box I heard was the al-4 and I remember being blown away by the output of those 4-inch drivers. It wasn’t long until we were installing VUE in Sound Image jobs, using products ranging from 70-volt distributed systems to performance PAs.”

That familiarity led Haas to choose VUE components for the new main system in the tasting room at Wavelength. Specifically, it includes al-4 compact line arrays that are flown, four boxes per side, while two as-115 (single 15-inch) compact subwoofers are on the floor. An additional distributed system utilizes multiple VUE i-6 compact loudspeakers with VUE is-26 compact surface-mount subs pushing out the low end.

Haas speaking at a tech talk session.

“We throw a lot at the main system, ranging from our presenters to video playback,” explains Haas. “We show webcasts of SpaceX Falcon 9 launches and the as-115s fill the room with the launch! The distributed system provides background music throughout the day. We get frequent comments on how great the audio is in the tasting room.”

Youth Outreach
Haas has been able to expand the scope of Wavelength’s tech talks, becoming involved with the region’s STEM Expo in an effort to widen exposure of the Vista community to opportunities in the world of science and technology.

“We’ve been fortunate to work with some great science outreach organizations, one of them being the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center,” he says. “I was at a meeting with other science outreach groups and mentioned wanting to do a science fair in downtown Vista. That’s when we started working with the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering to bring STEM In Your Backyard to Vista.”

Designed as an alternative to a traditional science fair, STEM In Your Backyard is an all-day free event promoting educational opportunities and viable career paths for young people. It provides a place for elementary through high school age students to exhibit their work alongside entertainment and learning opportunities – including expert presentations, STEM-based activities and interactive exhibits from local scientists, organizations, schools and companies.

The loudspeaker cutaway that VUE brought to STEM In Your Backyard as an educational tool.

His desire to raise awareness of tech-related career paths for youngsters led Haas to recruit VUE to help spearhead the event. “We had about 20 exhibitors from across the county,” he says. “HP (Hewlett Packard) brought the ‘Sprout’ trailer, a 40-foot office on wheels with 3-D scanning computers that attendees could try. Cal State University San Marcos and Palomar College participated with multiple STEM clubs and departments, setting up exhibits ranging from flying drones to solar telescopes. And of course, VUE was there using ‘cut-out’ models of their products to explain the basic workings of loudspeakers and discuss loudspeaker technology.”

He also plans to continue the tech talks at Wavelength, one of which will feature VUE president Ken Berger presenting “Audio 101.” Another direction is expanding the schedule of events in the tasting room to include live music. “We’ve had several acts approach us after seeing the al-4s flown in the room and I can’t wait to unleash the PA with some live music,” he concludes.

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