The Vina Robles Amphitheatre, a new outdoor venue in California, US, is using a custom-built d&b audiotechnik audio system to woo its audiences.
The 3,300-seat venue, which opened last summer in the city of Paso Robles, complements its picturesque surroundings with soft earth tones and classic stone work throughout. In collaboration with Vina Robles Restaurant and Winery, the Amphitheatre hosts concerts and live entertainment from May to November.
Vina Robles general manager Tim Reed has a long history developing and opening new venues throughout the United States, however he holds this project especially close to his heart. “I have wanted to build this venue my entire career,” he said. “I knew firsthand that there were no live music venues like Vina Robles in the area. Working exclusively with local craftsmen, we’ve been able to create an amazing facility design keeping both audiences and artists in mind.”
Brown Note Productions and its president, Ryan Knutson, whom Reed has known for years, jointly conducted a study of the venue at its infancy, primarily focusing on how the sound could be contained within the audience area. Once the decision was reached that d&b audiotechnik was the best choice, with its ability to control low-end frequencies and virtually eliminate the impact on the surrounding community, Reed brought 3G Productions, a West Coast d&b partner, into the Vina Robles project.
With only two and a half months until the venue opened, 3G had a tight timetable to decide on and install the right d&b system. Using d&b ArrayCalc software to make audio predictions within the venue, 3G recommended a custom d&b V-Series system. Additionally, because the venue is only open seven months of the year, Vina Robles sought a system that could be demounted, stored or even sent on tour during off season.
“The Vina Robles project was a fun challenge for our team. Due to the nature of the space, we worked very closely with Tim and his team to address all of their needs and concerns,” said Devon Murray, 3G director of business development and sales. “The sheer variety of d&b audiotechnik systems provides us the ability to create a truly customised sound system. The d&b V-Series system is perfectly suited for Vina Robles in that it provides unparalleled sound quality, while also maintaining the kind of pattern control that addressed the primary need of noise constraint outside the venue.”
The system comprises left/right V8 and V12 loudspeakers, with T10 front fills, and a cardioid sub array using B2-SUB loudspeakers. 3G was able to install it with time to spare before the band Yes christened the new stage at the opening.
Murray is very pleased with the results, “To see it all come together was amazing. It’s a brand new, beautiful venue, and the d&b sound system both looks and sounds great in it. Plus, it was fun. The energy and passion of the Vina Robles staff was contagious. For example, before we could make any noise, Tim Reed and his staff had a CD of their favourite songs to play. They wanted to celebrate the sound system’s first use. Watching their hard work pay off, and being a part of that, was very cool.”
