The Union League Club of New York City was founded by Union loyalists during the Civil War and has grown since then to become one of the city's most exclusive clubs, where the public-minded members of New York's upper class meet away from the bustle of urban life. Its elegant clubhouse on East 32nd Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan thus serves as an oasis, and the Union League recently refurbished many of its rooms to add modern audio/visual technology where appropriate. Based on its functionality and rock-solid reliability, AV integration firm Audio Production Services (Amawalk, New York) specified an Ashly ne24.24M Protea DSP Matrix Processor and an Ashly ne4250.70 Network Four-Channel Amplifier for the Union League Club's new system.
- Although most of the clubhouse areas provide a refuge from technology, club members requested video and audio in one of the large lounge spaces, the nearby coffee bar, and some ancillary lounge spaces. Inputs to the new system are many and include all manner of video feeds, wireless microphones for events, and iPod connectivity. Those inputs feed into an Ashly ne24.24M matrix processor, which handles all of the routing, mixing and equalization. Audio Production Services biased the modular I/O of the ne24.24M to accommodate the huge number of inputs, reserving just four outputs to feed a four-channel Ashly ne4250.70 amplifier. Those four amplifier channels power 70-volt RCF ceiling speakers in four separate zones.
- "I've used Ashly products on many previous installations," said Simon Nathan, president of Audio Production Services. "They are very flexible and easy to work with. In addition, they are reliable, which was critical for the Union League clubhouse. Ashly's Protea processing worked well with Key Digital's user interface technology and allowed us to give the staff an iPad that could control the new AV system. In all, it was a straightforward design and an easy installation, and the client is happy with its sound and performance."
