Ft. Meyers, FL-based Tech-Tronics Sound, Lighting, and Staging was contracted to provide sound for The Ranch. In addition to being a design / build firm for the AV installation market, Tech-Tronics is also a full service production company that provides turnkey concert and events solutions including sound, lighting, staging, tents, generators, and more. As the company founder, Tech-Tronics owner Arthur 'Rusty' Roepke is involved in all aspects of his company's business from sales to system design and deployment. He discussed The Ranch and his reasons for installing a D.A.S. Audio sound reinforcement system.
"As The Ranch hosts a variety of top artists, it was essential that the house sound system be a solid, concert-level setup," Roepke explained. "We wanted to ensure that not only the performers, but their technical staff as well, had a system that offered the music reproduction and speech intelligibility characteristics they expected. This is what led us to D.A.S. Audio's Aero Series 2 loudspeakers. After evaluating the room, we elected to deploy a system consisting of Aero 12A powered two-way, mid-high line array modules and LX-218A powered high performance subwoofers."
The main stage setup at The Ranch includes eight D.A.S. Aero 12A line array elements - four enclosures each for the left and right hangs. The eight LX-218A subwoofers that are deployed were positioned underneath the stage. In addition to the house mains, Roepke and his crew also positioned another two Aero 12A enclosures - one each for left and right - roughly 60ft out from the main stage to serve as a delay system.
"There were numerous considerations that went into our decision to deploy D.A.S. equipment," says Rusty. "For starters, I've always been impressed with the quality of D.A.S. Audio's sound. It's clear, music reproduces very naturally and, as a result, people both on stage and in the audience hear the music the way it was intended. I've also been impressed with the dispersion characteristics of the Aero 12A. These loudspeakers have really good horizontal dispersion and solid vertical throw. These characteristics make it that much easier to ensure even coverage throughout the space. Further, the integrated rigging hardware is well designed, so flying and making adjustments to the equipment is that much easier.
"I've been equally impressed with the D.A.S. subwoofers," Roepke added. "The LX-218A delivers a big, full sound you can feel. Since the entire system is powered, you don't have to concern yourself with selecting power amps that are properly suited to the enclosures and this simplifies system cabling. Best of all, since the entire setup is self-powered, we didn't have to deal with finding a suitable home for a rack of heavy power amps. The entire setup is very neatly organized."
The installation at The Ranch occurred in late 2014 and since that time, Roepke reports the system has performed above and beyond everyone's expectations, "It's been terrific," he said. "In the 10 months that the system has been operational, there hasn't been a single problem. The artists and their engineers have been very complimentary and our client has been equally pleased."
(Jim Evans)
