The new flagship of the Montage Hotel Group, The Pendry recently opened in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. With Clique Hospitality Group CEO Andy Masi onboard to help achieve the perfect Southern California boutique hotel experience, nightclub industry veteran John Lyons was called in to oversee sound system design for The Oxford Social Club, the hotel’s high-end lounge. Lyons looked to the compact power of Powersoft amplification for a sound system that would be hidden from sight but heard everywhere it needed to be.

Lyons is recognised  for his work with a number of major nighclubs, including The Avalon in Hollywood. He quickly ascertained the needs of The Oxford Social Club during an early site visit. ‘It’s intended as a high-end, sophisticated lounge with lots of cushy seating, but I knew that at some point in the night in every lounge’s life it’s going to need to some horse power,’ he says. ‘So I specified a system that would be able to give me the power and clarity needed for a serious dance.’

He had to work around the limitations of the physical space to achieve the balance, however: ‘Since it was to be built from scratch, I made sure to specify sound treatment for much of the ceilings that I knew would give me a predictable sonic signature,’ he says.

With physical space in both the lounge itself and its rack room at a premium, Lyons specified Powersoft Ottocanali amplifiers and Fulcrum Acoustic speakers for a low-footprint, high-impact sound solution. ‘Any time I do a project I try to identify the products that are the best fit,’ he explains. ‘In this case, we wanted high-power, high-fidelity sound, but we didn’t want to take up a lot of visual space. We also had a relatively modest amount of rack real estate available for amplifiers. Powersoft and Fulcrum were the clear choice.’

The installed system includes 24 channels of Powersoft amplification from three Ottocanali 8k8 rack units, occupying just six rack units in the club’s small rack room. These drive eight Fulcrum Acoustics 15-inch coaxial loudspeakers and eight double 15-inch subwoofers, as well as additional smaller side zone speakers near the entryway and bathrooms. The mains are positioned inside soffits around the lounge, while the subwoofers are secreted in millwork and columns. ‘We hid the speakers well so that we could get even coverage throughout the space without deadening the visual impact of the lounge,’ Lyons says.

‘In order to get double 15-inch subs like that to sing you need a lot of headroom, and with their powerful output and damping factor the Ottocanali amps do that well,’ he continues. ‘Since it was a new construction we were able to have our power mapped out and built, but with the Powersoft amps it was simply a matter of tying our mains power into our rack. It was nice that we didn’t have to allocate any more of our budget for special power accommodations.’

While the client is pleased that the system meets the design goal, Lyons has ensured that it has the potential to go further. ‘I always tend to give my clients a little more than they ask for because I know that two hours into opening night they’re going to wish they had it,’ he says. ‘With the Powersoft amps and the Fulcrum loudspeakers, this system is deceptively powerful. It’s kind of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It can get really loud if the night calls for it.’

Lyons will look to Powersoft for future projects that require high output and minimal footprint: ‘The Powersoft advantage all comes down to power density and performance,’ he confirms. ‘You’re able to pack a lot of punch in a small envelope with great reliability, and that’s a powerful thing.’