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LEA Professional

Residential AV Systems | LEA Powers 20-Zone Houston Home

Residential AV Systems | LEA Powers 20-Zone Houston Home

We’ve seen our amps go into a lot of amazing places. From football stadiums to skyscrapers to restaurants and bars — our amps are being used to enhance experiences around the world. But, for this install, we’re honored to have been welcomed into a beautiful home set amidst 5 acres of land in Houston, Texas. And with 20 zones of audio at the owner’s fingertips, this residential AV system sets the bar for home audio aspirations.

Let’s dive in!

THE SPEC

RESIDENTIAL AV SYSTEMS | LEA POWERS 20-ZONE HOUSTON HOME

Venue: Residential Property in Houston, TX | 6 Bedrooms, 5 acres

Integrator: Sound Lab Designs

Audio Spaces: Full home including 6 Bedrooms, pool, patio, balconies, front and near lawns

Product Used: CONNECTSERIES CS168 (qty 5), CS702 (qty 1), CS354 (qty 1) 

THE VENUE

RESIDENTIAL AV SYSTEMS | LEA POWERS 20-ZONE HOUSTON HOME

A six-bedroom home is set over five acres of land in the middle of Houston, Texas.

The home includes outdoor pool and patio areas as well as a balcony.

THE INTEGRATOR

RESIDENTIAL AV SYSTEMS | LEA POWERS 20-ZONE HOUSTON HOME

Sound Lab Designs specializes in alarms, custom fabrication, automotive lighting, and car audio. Every employee has ten plus years in the industry.

THE INSTALL

RESIDENTIAL AV SYSTEMS | LEA POWERS 20-ZONE HOUSTON HOME

A longtime customer of Texas-based AV integration company Sound Lab Designs, the homeowners were looking for an entirely new AV system across their six-bedroom home which is set over five acres of land in the middle of Houston. Sound Lab Designs designed and installed a new system from scratch to cover the interior and exterior of the large property.

For Ernie Blumenthal, owner at Sound Lab Designs, this project was different from other residential installations he’s worked on because, for the first time, he used LEA Professional amplifiers. Blumenthal mapped over 20 audio zones in the property, many of which were external zones including the pool, patio, front and near lawns and balconies. Initially, for Blumenthal it was the style and form factor of the LEA amplifiers that convinced him to give them a try.

“Form factor was a huge plus, I knew I could really stack a lot of power in a home and not take up the whole rack,” commented Blumenthal. “I did my research on LEA and saw that the sound quality and the adjustability of the amplifier was highly regarded so I thought this would be a perfect installation to try this product.”

Sound Lab Designs installed five Connect Series 168, one Connect 702, and one Connect 354 in the home. The team chose to give the homeowners extra power and channel count so they would have plenty of headroom for future expansion.

While supply chain issues due to COVID did create some equipment delays for this project the LEA Professional amplifiers arrived on time with no delays. Having the amplifiers onsite was hugely important for mapping out and configuring the rest of the system design while waiting for the remaining equipment to arrive.

Another selling point of the LEA amplifiers was the connection to the LEA Professional Cloud Platform allowing Sound Lab Designs to monitor all of the amplifiers remotely, simultaneously. 

The Cloud Platform provides systems integrators with powerful, reliable and secure remote monitoring and control capabilities across the entire lineup of IoT-enabled LEA Professional Connect Series amplifiers. Unique within the industry, all LEA Professional amplifiers leverage the built-in Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT Core. The platform allows integrators to monitor critical operational data points that are integral to maintaining system health remotely. The capability delivers greater visibility to provide preventative maintenance, easier troubleshooting and fewer on-site maintenance requirements.

“I really like the monitoring ability, you only need to go to one web page to see all the amplifiers and it means we are able to offer our clients a full end-to-end service,” commented Blumenthal. “The amplifiers provide great value and are reasonably priced for what you are getting so we will definitely be using them again.”

THE CONCLUSION

RESIDENTIAL AV SYSTEMS | LEA POWERS 20-ZONE HOUSTON HOME

Sound Lab Designs has received great feedback from the client and they are happy with how everything sounds and how it looks in their home. There have been no issues with the system so far but if anything does occur Ernie and the team know that with our cloud platform, they can quickly and easily address almost any issue.

We’d like to thank Ernie and his team at Soundlab Designs for choosing our amps for this killer installation and we hope that the audio systems will continue to deliver reliable audio for the homeowners for years to come.

If you have any questions or feedback about using amplifiers for residential av systems like this or any other projects, feel free to fill out the form below or reach out to us on our social media channels.

Categories
Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO PARTNER AUDIOLOGICPRO MAKES FIRST INVESTMENT IN WAVEFRONT PRECISION

Martin Audio’s long-term Czech and Slovakian distributor, Rock Centrum, has announced a strategic Wavefront Precision line array sale — to local rental company, AudiologicPRO

This young rental company, coincidentally also based in the city of Martin, already had experience of Martin Audio technology and has been growing rapidly, with its reputation spreading throughout both the Czech and Slovak markets, in all performance sectors.

According to Rock Centrum’s Peter Foldvari, joint partners, Branislav Gombarský and Tomáš Hruška, wanted the manufacturer’s latest line array series as they believed Martin Audio’s optimised line array technology to be the best in the world.

“We conducted a few demos at our Czech base in Prague and invited them,” he reports. “We then had long discussions about which system they needed, as they already had experience with legendary systems such as W8, W8LC and W8LM. Finally they opted for WPC.

Photo (left to right): Branislav Gombarský and Tomáš Hruška

“Of course they also considered other brands, but based on previous cooperation and the result of the soundchecks they quickly returned to WPC because of the core optimisation technology.”

AudiologicPRO’s initial purchase is for 12 enclosures, giving them hangs of six elements per side, but this will increase further for the summer season, along with iKON iK42 amplifiers. This will complement their existing classic Martin Audio W8LM, W8VDQ and a W8C / WSX rig.

Regarding the purchase, Branislav Gombarský stated, “The best possible sound performance was in our company already — and that’s why we decided to expand our Martin Audio portfolio with the latest WPC.

“This is a natural result of maximum satisfaction with the use of our older Martin Audio systems which enabled us to provide a number of memorable music productions.

“During our 15 years’ experience in this business, we have come into contact with the W8LC and W8LM systems several times and that is why we now believe in the technologically advanced WPC. Aside from its technology, a clear benefit is its compactness, weight and especially its efficiency in large concert halls and spaces.

“Saving space in the truck and the load-bearing capacity are, I think, key issues in these times. And the technical progress of optimisation in the DISPLAY software, which is miles ahead of the classic line array principals, we don’t even have to talk about!

“I would like to thank Rock Centrum Slovakia and Peter Foldvári in particular for the sensitive way in which they approached the negotiations leading up to this sale.”

Categories
Optimal Audio

Optimal Audio’s Up 60 completes ceiling speaker range

Optimal Audio has added the Up 60, a 6-inch two-way passive full-range ceiling speaker, to its portfolio of multi-zone audio solutions. Delivering a consistent conical 110° coverage pattern, the speaker pairs a 6-inch low frequency driver with a 0.7-inch metal dome tweeter and is supplied without a back can for ceilings with a minimum cavity depth. The Up 6O cabinet is suitable for both high quality speech and music reproduction in a range of cost-conscious commercial environments, from hotels and concourses to retail outlets, bars and restaurants.

Each Up 6O can be run on a series of 70V or 100V taps or at low impedance. There’s also a 16Ω setting that allows up to four units to be connected to each amplifier channel at low impedance for a more efficient installation.

“With the entire Up ceiling series, including this latest addition, now shipping, they join Cuboid and Sub to complete our loudspeaker offering,” stated Optimal Audio product manager Al McKinna. “With our amplifiers also shipping and our controllers soon to follow, the Optimal Audio ecosystem of control, amplification and loudspeakers working seamlessly together is now becoming a reality. 2022 will be the year we see Optimal Audio really take off.”

Categories
Optimal Audio

Optimal Audio Launches Up 6O

Optimal Audio, manufacturer of control, amplification and loudspeakers for small to medium-sized commercial installations, particularly multi-zone venues, has announced an addition to its range in the shape of the Up 6O, a 6” two-way passive, full range open back ceiling speaker. 

Delivering a consistent conical 110° coverage pattern, Up 6O features a 6” low frequency driver paired with a 0.7” metal dome tweeter, and is supplied without a back can for ceilings with a minimum cavity depth. An integral fixing system achieves a simple and clean installation. Up 6O is suitable for both high quality speech and music reproduction in a wide range of cost-conscious commercial environments, from hotels and concourses to retail outlets, bars and restaurants.

Each Up 6O can be run on a series of 70 or 100 Volt taps or at low impedance, and with a 16 ohm setting allows up to four units to be connected to each amplifier channel at low impedance for an efficient install.

Up 6O joins Optimal Audio’s range of ceiling speakers with the entire Up series now shipping in APAC, followed by EMEA from March, and North America to follow later in the year. 

Product manager, Al McKinna, said:

With the entire Up ceiling series, including this latest addition, now shipping, they join Cuboid and Sub to complete our loudspeaker offering. With our amplifiers also shipping and our controllers soon to follow, the Optimal Audio ecosystem of control, amplification and loudspeakers working seamlessly together is now becoming a reality. 2022 will be the year we see Optimal Audio really take off.”