Located in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, the epicentre of gay life in New York City, The Out NYC is the city’s first straight-friendly, urban resort. Freshly opened in March 2012, The Out NYC prides itself on offering guests a truly unique experience; one enhanced by a new audio system designed and installed by NYC’s EL Media Group and powered exclusively by Lab.gruppen C Series amplifiers.
- EL Media Group’s central focus is providing luxury sound for luxury properties utilizing custom created musical programming and high-end audio systems. Working closely with The Out’s architects and designers over the course of 2011, EL’s creative chief operator, Ernie Lake, designed a distributed audio system incorporating 36 loudspeakers powered by one Lab.gruppen C 10:4X and two C 10:8X amplifiers.
- Additionally, the system incorporates EL’s proprietary 3.1 Player, which allows The Out to stream up to four distinctly different musical programs – that shift between various musical genres over the course of the day to reflect the evolving mood and usage of a given space – to multiple zones of the hotel.
- Although Lake prefers to install full 8 Ohm audio systems, for this project a mix 70-Volt and 8 Ohm systems were required to provide music to three specific areas of the property; the first floor’s lobby and private conference/dining rooms, the spa and fitness facility and the hotel’s second and third floor courtyards. That requirement was a key driver in his choice of the Lab C 10:4X and C 10:8Xs, Lake says: “With the Lab.gruppen C Series you can switch from 70 Volt to 8 Ohms very easily. You just flip a couple of switches and you’re good to go.”
- The most important factors driving Lake’s choice of Lab.gruppen, however, were the amplifier’s reliability and sound quality. “We want to make each venue sound incredible by providing cutting edge, custom sound design that enhances the vibe. We’re big fans of Lab. We love the way they sound and their power usage is incredible – they can be on 24/7 and you never have to worry about them.”
- “This is the wave of the future,” said The Out’s general manager, David Lopez. “We envision The Out NYC as an urban resort that will help bring back a cluster of fun things to the area for the LGBT community – accommodations, entertainment, fashion and design – all in one complex. Providing the correct music, based on your design and what you’re trying to accomplish with the overall experience, is the most important thing for a lifestyle hotel.”
- As the vendor of choice for The Out NYC, EL Media Group are currently working on an additional audio system for the hotel’s dining area, which will also include Lab.gruppen amplifiers.
