PlumpJack Group's business now includes award-winning wineries, luxury resorts, restaurants and clubs, as well as retail outlets. Established in a former printing works in San Francisco's Mission Street, Verso is a high quality space designed to switch quickly and seamlessly from hosting events to a nightclub.
Bradley S. Katz of the city's JK Sound had previously worked with PlumpJack on another venue, MatrixFillmore, and was asked to look at Verso as a result of that venue's success. "Verso was to be a more 'serious' venue and the AV design had to reflect their vision of a truly unique experience," he says. "We won the design and installation contract for the sound and lighting after a series of demos, and I personally saw the job through to completion."
Brad first heard Alcons pro-ribbon systems at a demo by David Rahn of Alcons US. "I was thoroughly impressed. The sound quality stuck in my head and made me really want to work with them," he says.
Brad and the JK Sound team set up two demos, one of which was at a PlumpJack company party in the unfinished Verso venue. "We set up a few systems and it gave everyone involved a chance to listen and compare them," he continues. "Alcons came away the clear winner."
He continues, "One of the key design elements was that the space had to move seamlessly from a corporate event to a full-on nightclub experience, without re-configuring it. Every seat was potentially a 'big money' seat and every bit of floor had to be able to be part of the immersive nightclub or corporate party experience."
To achieve this, Brad specified a four corner dance system comprising four Alcons pro-ribbon VR12 loudspeakers as flown main loudspeakers, with two Alcons BF302 MKII dual 15-inch units for bass and four BQ211 21-inch subs.
Compact VR8 pro-ribbon units were installed as fills for the dance floor and DJ monitors, with TS7 ultra-compact, two-way loudspeakers to cover the seating areas. A Sentinel3 and two Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers were provided to power and control the system.
"One of the bigger physical challenges was working around the floor-to-ceiling beams and retrofit A-frame steelwork for earthquake protection," says Brad. "The solution was to install the main Alcons system at the corners of the main dance floor, making a compact yet powerful space. I then covered the fill zones with stereo pairs, the idea was to both concentrate the energy in the centre and radiate outward.
"Club-goers need to feel clean bass as much as hear it, so I used the combination of 15-inch drivers for punch and 21-inch units for depth. The whole system was engineered to have enough headroom that meant it could run at even its maximum level without adding distortion or negative harmonics."
A combination of Alcons brackets and custom rigging ensured that the system is both safe and aesthetically pleasing, while bespoke movable mounts help the VR8 DJ monitors to always be in the right place.
"The DJ booth is small and its configuration changes with almost each artist. The compact Alcons VR8 were a great fit, they just needed a small custom stand that could easily be moved and adjustable, thanks to the slick Alcons bracket," says Brad. "By keeping everything very compact, we got the monitors down low and angled up, creating great sight lines which match those throughout the venue."
(Jim Evans)
