The Beat Hotel bar, restaurant and music venue, located in Harvard Square, has installed Fulcrum Acoustic Prophile loudspeakers to combat the venue’s challenging acoustics.
“The room has 9ft ceilings and is over 100ft long,” said Rob Pemberton of Wellesley, MA-based Parsons Audio, the company behind the creation of the venue’s new sound system. The focal point for the system is Fulcrum Acoustic’s club-ready Prophile Series loudspeakers, designed to deliver accuracy and control while still allowing conversations to happen throughout the venue.
The primary PA consists of a pair of Prophile M speakers, a 12in, three-way coaxial speaker with wide dispersion. “We chose the Prophile because of the layout of Beat Hotel, which is on the basement level of the building,” explained Pemberton. “The Prophile has a nice, tight pattern control, so we were able to focus the sound without creating a lot of reflections.” The main PA is augmented by a series of delay zones further into the room, with all loudspeakers ceiling mounted.
Two Fulcrum Acoustic US212 subwoofers are flown alongside the main PA, positioned in cardioid pattern to control low frequencies on stage while radiating freely into the room. For the musicians, the stage itself features FX896 ultra-compact floor monitors, also by Fulcrum Acoustic.
The main seating, including both the restaurant and bar areas, is divided into three zones, delayed through the room’s BSS BLU-160 processors to maintain time alignment throughout the space. A total of ten Prophile S loudspeakers cover these zones, each of which has volume control to allow management to adjust to conditions during and between sets.
With a three-way, dual 8in design and extra-wide 100×100-degree dispersion, the Prophile S is ideal for musical applications like front fill and under balcony – or a low-ceilinged club like Beat Hotel. “The Prophile S speakers were a great fit for the zone speakers,” noted Pemberton. “They have a nice, wide pattern, low horizontal profile, and a beautiful sound. It allows the manager to change the volume in each zone without upsetting the balance in the room.”
Pemberton concluded: “The room really sounds great, even with the low ceilings, the Fulcrum system was the perfect choice for this space.”
