The National Corvette Museum opened in 1994, just a quarter mile from Corvette’s famous production facility in Bowling Green, KY. It has numerous historical and technological exhibits, but the main draw is an ever-rotating collection of mint Corvettes that span the car’s 60-plus years in production. A gift shop and café round out the experience.
Centerline Audio Visual, of Hendersonville, TN, revamped the National Corvette Museum’s sound system by installing a Dante network audio system supporting Ashly ne8250.pe 8-channel network amplifiers with on-board Protea DSP. Using a Room-Centric Audio Design, the amplifiers are located throughout the museum and connected via the Dante network.
“For years, the museum used the modest sound system that went in with the building for paging, mainly,” said Scott Oliver, Centerline president. “The exhibits used TVs with DVDs on loop, which didn’t pack a lot of punch. It had the feel of a natural history museum—it was quiet. We convinced them that they needed some exciting music, consistent with the brand.”
The newly-renovated system consists of over 200 SoundTube in-ceiling loudspeakers in 40 zones powered by five Ashly ne8250. pe 8-channel 250W network amplifiers. The Room-Centric Audio Design strategically locates the amps throughout the facility to minimize loudspeaker cable runs. The built-in Protea DSP does all of the loudspeaker processing. Dante connectivity links the Ashly amplifiers to a Symetrix SymNet Radius DSP matrix router. Users can adjust the zone volume and source material from ARC controllers, and the entire system is tied intelligently into the fire and paging systems.
“We love using Ashly amps and processors because they’re so reliable,” Oliver said. “If we have questions, it’s easy to get Ashly support on the phone. In the end, going with Ashly invariably makes our job much easier.”
As a value add, Oliver became the actual voice of the museum, volunteering his deep, sonorous “radio voice” for all of the voiceovers that now entice visitors to stop by the gift shop or to catch lunch in the Corvette café.
