Spring Ponds

About

From a constructional perspective what made the dual-purpose room possible was that the entire dance floor which sits just above the pool surface can be lowered through the water on hydraulic rams to become the floor of the pool, and raised again when required. This not only involved some heavy duty engineering but also required an intelligent approach to selecting and tuning a sound system to deliver its best in both pool and party modes.

“We spoke to our clients about what speaker system options they could have, and as they’ve now experienced high performance sound in the cinema installation we had done for them previously they wanted full-on, no compromise, club audio,” commented Joe. “Our challenge was the natural acoustics of the pool room, a large and highly reverberant 20m by 12m space with very reflective ceiling and pool surface and a typical RT60 of well over 2 seconds. We knew that to achieve that goal we had to focus a lot of energy into a fairly narrow horizontal plane at around head height to minimise reflections and avoid exciting the room too much.”

“They wanted the speaker system to complement the big mirror TV above the hot tub and be capable of going loud when the occasion demanded,” commented Joe. “So after modelling the room we recessed KP102 line arrays either side of the TV, and a further four around the perimeter to give even coverage across the room. They’re RAL colour matched to the walls so they sit nicely with the look and feel of the space.”

The subs, according to Joe, “were another story.” With no possibility to locate subs anywhere on the ground, the only viable option was to put them in the ceiling void. “The builder was nervous, the client was nervous, but when we showed them how it was going to be done and the result they could expect they were convinced. The KP102s are really efficient, and as our client wanted a really solid low end we installed eight Rumble-KU212s in the ceiling behind acoustically transparent cloth so the whole thing looks seamless.

“Calibration was tricky due to the very different acoustic conditions between when the pool is open or covered, but we arrived at a sweet spot where it sounds good all round. The KP102s dispersion pattern is narrow in the vertical plane and that ensures sound is directed towards listeners’ ear level, while the wide horizontal pattern covers the large room really well. The modelling indicated where we might expect some nodes and troughs in the low end, so we took advantage of that to create some hot bass areas in front of the TV and in the bar area. It works a treat and they love it!”

The Solution

The K-array system goes loud, perhaps more than strictly necessary, and has loads of dynamic range. To keep a lid on things the system is limited to eliminate any possibility of overdriving, and it is also possible to dial in remotely to carry out any diagnostics, software updates or tweaks that may be needed.

It’s all powered by a pair of K-array Kommander-KA68 Class D DSP amplifiers with onboard digital signal processing from an equipment rack located in the neighbouring gym room. The dedicated speaker presets optimise performance for the chosen speaker models, taking care of the crossover bands between subs and line arrays as well as multiple integrated functions such as channel grouping, input and output parametric EQ, dynamic limiters, assignable signal routing, and channel delays. User adjustable parameters are available through Control4 automation via wall mounted touch screens dispersed strategically around the pool room.

“One thing that stands out for me is that they’ve got to be able to stand up to the pounding they’ll get – and pounding is the right word, they get hammered here and they’ve not missed a beat. And you know what, they sound good. It’s working well.”

The clients love the sound quality and they can take a bit of punishment as well, so says the lady of the house: “We really love it. When we have a party it’s like being in a nightclub! The system has such power and it never fails to impress us and our guests. We didn’t want a pile of speakers in each corner of the room – we wanted something discreet that blends into the fabric of the building – and that is exactly what the Prestige Audio team delivered, always giving the very best performance and service.”

“K-array is a nice brand for us to work with as it suits our profile,” said Joe. “We’re a small boutique audio design team and never take on work we can’t do justice to, so when there is an application for great sound with a discreet appearance we’ll not hesitate in using K-array.

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