Holland heard about a new company called Danley Sound Labs, founded by audio pioneer Tom Danley. "I read about Danley Sound Labs in the ProSoundWeb forums," he said. "I had always been interested in Tom Danley's ideas. Reputable people in the industry were writing positive things about the products, so I checked them out."
Danley Sound Labs provided two TH-115 subwoofers for Holland to demo. He and another Soundscapes colleague took the TH-115s and two of his other subs outside for measuring and listening tests. "I appreciated the conservative specifications on the Danley gear. What I measured was what was on the spec sheet. Other manufacturer's specs are often quite optimistic," Holland added. "There has always been a huge disconnect between high-end studio quality sound and large sound reinforcement systems. Danley Sound Labs isclosing that gap."
After experiencing the TH-115s, Holland purchased eight of them to replace his current subs. He noted that the Danley TH-115s are about 60-percent the size and weight of the competing models from the well-known manufacturer. "They also cost less and offer more useable output. A major push in this business is size and weight due to rising transportation costs," he said. "But I won't go down in size just to save money. It has to sound better too. In my experience, these subs are unparalleled in their impact and accuracy in sound reproduction. Danley has managed to develop a horn sub that is completely musical. I can't see buying any other kind of subwoofer."
Holland's first real-world test of his new subs was at the weeklong Branded by Fire youth conference of Hearts Ablaze, a ministry of Brownsville Assembly, at the Pensacola Civic Center. The program included aggressive rock, speech, and high-energy praise in a 10,000-seat venue. A half house setup was used for the 3,000 attendees. To cover the space, Holland originally set up a total of ten Danley TH-115s (his eight plus the two demo subs) but downsized to six since once he discovered that would provide more than enough power. He added: "During rehearsals, I experimented with just four of the Danley subs for the entire venue. Amazingly, it worked quite well but I didn't want to drive them at those levels all week. These subs are extremely impressive."
As his company grows, he is looking forward to converting more of his rig to Danley products, especially the full-range loudspeakers. Soundscapes currently averages two shows per week across the Southeast.
(Chris Henry)
