When looking to upgrade the loudspeaker systems at two Northern California educational institutions, Rocky Giannetta, president of independent services provider Layer 8, knew he needed amplifiers that offered both Dante connectivity and advanced DSP with pristine sound quality. In searching for the perfect solution, Giannetta turned to Powersoft’s Quattrocanali—a compact, four-channel amplifier platform—for not only its comprehensive feature set, but also its reliability.
“As far as I’m concerned, the real selling point for the Quattrocanali is its advanced DSP processing and specifically its ability to easily import FIR filters to do accurate loudspeaker system optimization,” Giannetta said. “That is a primary design criterion and selling point for us, and the systems integrators we work alongside.”
Heritage High School—Brentwood, CA
At the end of August, just before school started, Heritage High School, a 9th-12th grade high school located in Brentwood, CA, one hour east of San Francisco, replaced the amplification in its gymnasium loudspeaker system, which features eight speakers.
Giannetta specified, programmed, and tuned the new Powersoft system, which included two Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D amplifiers. For this installation, Giannetta needed an amplifier to cover advanced DSP functionality across four channels.
“The key element was the fact that with the advanced DSP processing we were able to optimize the entire system, while making major improvements to it,” Giannetta said. “Also by installing the Quattrocanali 2404 DSP+D amplifiers, we were able to reduce rack space and draw way less power than the previous amps the school had installed.”
Modesto Junior College—Modesto, CA
Meantime, located just off Modesto’s busy downtown DoMo district sits Modesto Junior College—a public, two-year institution with a significant performing arts program. The college’s theater’s loudspeaker system is used regularly throughout the year for productions such as Aesop’s Fablesand Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web. When it began suffering system failures, Giannetta was brought in to program the DSP system.
During the process, Giannetta also specified a new amplifier platform for the LCR loudspeaker system and selected four Powersoft Quattrocanali 4804 DSP+D amplifiers—both for their advanced programming and compact size.
“The original amp took up 24 rack spaces, and with the Quattrocanali, we were able to replace it with four rack spaces of amplification,” Giannetta said. “To top it off, the folks at the theater have said that the system sounded better after we installed the amplifiers then it did when it was first installed eight years ago.”
A Peace-of-Mind Solution
An avid user of Powersoft products for 2.5 years, Giannetta said the company’s all-around ease to work with makes it an effortless choice every time. In addition, the overall reliability of Powersoft’s amplifier platforms has been a key ingredient to his success.
“We’ve had zero failures in the 2.5 years I’ve been working with Powersoft amps,” Giannetta said. “That’s a big deal for power amplifiers because they can generate so much heat, but we are happy to say that’s been our experience from the start with Powersoft.”
