The Hilton Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan offers over 7,000sqft of flexible event and meeting space for wedding receptions, parties, conferences, and the like. An array of microphone and line-level inputs tie into a sound reinforcement system that had been working for the Hilton and its guests for over a decade.
When, after extended 24/7 service, one of the system’s Ashly amplifiers gave up the ghost, the Hilton asked for an Ashly replacement. KVO Communications, the local AV contractor and integrator,that has been providing the Hilton with technical support for events for over 15 years installed an Ashly Pema 8125.70. Not only does the new Pema 8125.70 give the hotel eight amplifier channels in a two-rack space unit, it provides them with fully-featured, integrated DSP that their system needed. “The hotel managers and staff had always been perfectly happy with the sound reinforcement system,” explained Karl Van Oostenbrugge, principal of KVO Communications. “So when the old unit went out, they wanted another Ashly amplifier to replace it. Like all Ashly products, the Pema combined processor/amplifier is competitively priced and designed to deliver high-fidelity performance 24/7, year-after-year. It’s built to last.”
Each of the Pema 8125.70’s outputs covers one of the Hilton’s eight subdivided rooms. Depending on the needs of a particular event, the rooms can be combined in various permutations of up to one large room. Van Oostenbrugge used the Pema 8125.70’s processing power to digitally accommodate room combining, as well as to tailor input sources and outputs with comprehensive equalization and dynamics. In addition to the Ashly Pema, KVO worked with the existing Creston control system and touchpanel interface, to facilitate room combination, input selection and volumes. “It’s completely seamless for the hotel staff,” said Van Oostenbrugge. “They just go to the panel in any given room and everything is self-explanatory.” All of the rest of the equipment, including loudspeakers, wiring, and microphones was left untouched. Van Oostenbrugge concluded: “It was a simple installation and a nice opportunity for an upgrade. The Pema is priced so competitively that I could give them processing power in addition to the eight amplifier channels that were required.”
