NeueHouse Madison Square, a private members club in Manhattan that recently reopened after a renovation, has been equipped with a customized sonic environment utilizing L-Acoustics loudspeakers and amplified controllers in a design and install by AV systems integrator See Factor.
“Members come here to work and to experience interesting shows and talks, but mostly they come here to feel at home,” says Anthony Farina, NeueHouse Madison Square assistant general manager and head of AV technology. “We strive for a balance in all of that, and sound is a big part of it, whether it’s direct sound like speech or music, or ambient sound as you work and network. The sound has to be as unique and dynamic as everything else here. The L-Acoustics audio definitely delivers that.”
The largest part of what is a huge central space with raked seating that’s enclosed on either side is where members take in those performances and talks. Two L-Acoustics X12 loudspeakers form a left-right array, with an X8 in the center, all flown. A pair of SB18 subwoofers are available when needed, such as for DJ nights, and can be patched into floor pockets fitted below window columns.
Four more X8 loudspeakers cover the upper part of the seating and adjacent floor areas. Five 5XT compact loudspeakers add delay zones around the main space, while even smaller X4i systems provide more intimate audio for a pair of compact cabañas facing the buffet area. A rack in a tech closet holds the system’s two LA2Xi and two LA4Xi amplified controllers.
“We have the entire space carefully zoned, with the speakers chosen for what each area needs, from the X12 for the performance space to the X4i for ambiance,” Farina explains. “Again, it’s all about balance. For instance, we can pull the rear zones down in volume even as we increase it on the X12 and X8 in front. The speakers have excellent pattern control.”
Mark Friedman, Managing Partner at See Factor, says the creative team at NeueHouse Madison Square expressed equal emphasis on sonic performance and interior esthetics when they began discussing the venue’s sound system. He invited them to See Factor’s facility in Woodside, Queens where there’s an entire space devoted to L-Acoustics products.
“Sound quality and esthetics were equally important to them,” he says. “The system had to have great fidelity but also disappear. We were able to show them the small-format speakers from L-Acoustics, like the 5XT and X4i, which are incredibly compact but still deliver substantial SPL. Multiple short-throw speakers were the way to get impact and coverage throughout this multi-use space.”
See Factor installed audio supervisor Alex Jones adds that Soundvision modeling software from L-Acoustics played a key role in determining where to place each loudspeaker to assure proper coverage and imaging. “Soundvision creates the sonic map we need for speaker placement,” he says. “But in conjunction with the X12 and X8 speakers, whose pattern signatures match each other exactly, we had the perfect solution to keep the sound on the seats and off the walls and floor.” In fact, sound dispersion was so precise that the X4i speakers, which hadn’t been specified initially, were added to the cabañas because they were so well isolated from the rest of the room’s sound.
“The space sounds so good, and it works for speech and music and everything in between,” Farina concludes. “It has all the horsepower we need, yet you’d never know it was there if you didn’t hear it. It’s exactly what we wanted for a very special place like this.”
