Perched on the Hoboken, New Jersey waterfront, the W Hotel offers stunning views of the New York City skyline across the Hudson River. The pet-friendly hotel is steps away from the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) and New York Waterway Ferry, enabling easy access to Manhattan. Built in the early 2000s, W Hoboken is an architectural gem with modern styling and many unique design features, like the extremely high ceilings in the colorfully lit lobby. Unfortunately, the original sound system was beginning to show its age and started to experience failures, so the hotel turned to LEA Professional to rectify the problem.
Hotel staff contracted Ron Lorman of Busy Puppy Productions, as audio consultant, to design a robust audio distribution system for the hotel’s common areas and meeting rooms. Lorman specified LEA Professional amplifiers based on a recommendation from Doug Asher of Essential Communications. To minimize disruptions to guests and staff, the existing loudspeakers would remain in place for the foreseeable future.
“We discovered the existing loudspeakers were low impedance speakers; some were wired in series and other sets in series-parallel,” said Asher. “They were running at less than two ohms because they had so many eight ohms speakers on a line. That can tax normal amplifiers quite a bit, leading to burnout. Lorman re-designed the wiring schemes to achieve more balanced operational loads. We felt that the LEA amplifiers were the best solution because we knew they could handle a two-ohm load and operated at very reasonable temperatures. Add in all the other advanced features like the web interface, ease of setup, and control of the amplifiers, and it was a no-brainer.”
Asher’s team decided to use an LEA Connect Series 704D to power the loudspeakers in the Ballroom. The 704 is a Dante-enabled 4-channel amplifier with 700 watts per channel, perfectly suited for small to medium-scale installations. The 704 supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel, giving the hotel excess capabilities for possible future expansion.
For the meeting rooms and remaining common areas and hallways, several LEA Connect Series 168D amplifiers were installed to run the remaining speaker lines. The larger ballroom is divisible, so care had to be taken to set the zones up properly, given the possible various room combinations. The 168D is a Dante-enabled 8-channel amplifier offering 160 watts per channel, which was an excellent fit for the common areas, hallways, and meeting rooms. Like the 704D, the 168D also supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel.
While all the loudspeaker processing happens in the LEA amplifiers via the built-in DSP, hotel staff wanted complete control of background audio throughout the building. Essential Communications deployed a Symetrix DSP in the rack room to control the system. Control pages were created in the Symetrix software that could be accessed via a web browser. Hotel management was provided with two iPads — one for the common areas and the other for the meeting rooms — that allow staff to manage all the zones, select the music, and control volume levels.
The hotel staff was so happy with the upgrade that Lorman and Essential Communications were commissioned to retrofit the restaurant as well, again with LEA amplification. Additionally, plans are being implemented to upgrade the audio systems in the former nightclub, which is now the hotel’s premier event space with Manhattan skyline views, using LEA Professional amplifiers.
“Commissioning the LEA amplifiers was flawless,” said Asher. “We test everything in our shop before it gets to a client site. All we did on-site was make sure we connected the more than 60 speaker runs to the right amplifiers. Everything worked when we turned on the system and started walking around the hotel, checking all the controls and the zones. Everything came up the first time; the music was playing, and it was playing in the correct zones. Everyone was really pleased about the transition from the old to the new system and how smoothly it went.”
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About Busy Puppy Productions:
Busy Puppy Productions has been exclusively serving the audio industry since 1978. BPP has provided audio services to a list of clients, ranging from Broadway, MTV, recording studios, and high-end corporate events, to large-format live concerts with exclusive artists. BPP has specialized in loudspeaker design, testing, and audio consulting for multiple progressive companies and has provided Installation design for projects from the Oculus Transportation Hub in NYC, to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Ron Lorman states, “Connecting meaningful quality audio, with the public, has been my life’s endeavor.”
About Essential Communications:
Essential Communications has been crafting unforgettable multimedia experiences since 1987, with innovative design concepts, unmatched craftsmanship, and a commitment to customer relationships. By aligning with architects and renowned clients in hospitality and retail, Essential Communications is constantly innovating at the leading edge of commercial venues where sound, video, and lighting define the experience.
About LEA:
Headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, LEA Professional was founded to provide dealer/integrators in the professional AV market with the highest-performing, best-connected amplifier technology possible. Privately held, LEA Professional is led by industry veterans with proven capabilities on the executive, engineering, and channel aspects of professional AV. The company was founded in 2019 and is organized to be a major force in professional AV. Visit leaprofessional.com to learn more and follow LEA at facebook.com/leaprofessional, twitter.com/leaprofessional, Instagram.com/lea_professional, and linkedin.com/company/lea-professional.
