An audio system designed by Pioneer Pro Audio has provided the soundtrack for the Tomorrowland Boutique, a pop-up store in Antwerp city centre that celebrates one of the world’s biggest electronic music festivals.
Opening in October 2015, the store sold the Tomorrowland fashion collection and limited edition collectors’ items for three months. A raised ‘main stage’ area featured a bar, a Steampunk-inspired Pioneer DJ set-up in bronze and live sets from Belgian’s best DJs. Meanwhile the History Room, set on a balcony running above the store, gave people the chance to plug in and relive the sights and sounds of previous festivals.
The organisers wanted to bring people a slice of the Tomorrowland experience, so a professional sound system was essential. They wanted an energetic sound in the shop – but at a level that allowed staff to speak to customers comfortably. For the main stage area, they wanted a warm bass and a tight, punchy chest kick, to create an immersive, festival experience. The History Room had to continue the vibe, but not compete with the space below. Plus, the system needed to sound good at lower volumes in the day and have the headroom to push it up for after-work parties at night.
For the shop, the Pioneer Pro Audio team installed three XY-101 10in speakers and an XY-115S compact 15in bass reflex subwoofer, while the main stage area had two XY-122 12in speakers – mounted horizontally with the horns rotated to provide smooth, consistent high frequency dispersion – and an XY-118S 18in bass reflex subwoofer. The DJ Booth had 2 XY-81 8in monitors on poles, while the History Room also had an 8in speaker to augment the sound from below. All the speakers were driven by Powersoft DSP amplifiers: three K2 models for the shop and History Room and another for the main space, plus an M30 for the DJ booth.
Kristian Van Haute from Pioneer Pro Audio Belgium explained: “This configuration gave a great low-frequency energy in the store without overpowering shoppers and staff. We intensified that energy in the main stage area, with just two 12-inch speakers giving great coverage of the whole room.”
The whole system was powered by four Powersoft K2 amps and one M30, all with built-in DSP. During the install, the team re-cabled the whole venue, which had been cabled for a system from another company.
Debby Wilmsen, PR manager for the Tomorrowland Boutique, enthused: “We’re completely amazed by the whole system. Not just the sound but also the visual impact – the gold grilles match and look like they were made to be there.”
