Canopy by Hilton Tempe Arizona

DAS Audio Loudspeakers Keep the Mood Upbeat at the Canopy by Hilton Downtown

Quantum, Ovi, and WR Series loudspeakers provide powerful, articulate sound and the ideal aesthetic fit. 

Offering unique leisure and business facilities, the Canopy by Hilton Downtown is the new boutique lifestyle hotel to open in Tempe, Arizona. To ensure the best possible sound reproduction throughout, management invested in the installation of an assortment of DAS Audio systems. In charge of the project were ‘Skinny’ Greg Gilman, who has wide experience in the world of music and sound endeavors, and Oakland Park, FL-based TM Sound, an AV design/build firm.

“The hotel’s entrance is equipped with two Q-43-T systems,” Gilman reports. “The lobby, which also doubles as the first restaurant/bar, was fitted with ten white Ovi-12s, suspended 14 feet above the floor and 2 feet from the ceiling, providing equal coverage for Alter Ego (the restaurant & bar) and Myrtle Corner (a lounge/waiting area)—without the undesired reflections from a nearby large room with glass garage doors. We also hide four Q-10 subwoofers and tuned them perfectly so they would not disrupt guests calling or checking in. Outside the aforementioned garage doors, we placed two Q-23-T with IP Kits for the outdoor patio dining area.”

“Moving into the display kitchen area,” Gilman continues, “is a private dining space where we hid two more Q-10 and four Q-43-T to match the room’s décor. On the 14th floor is Alibi, a cozy bar offering great views of Arizona. Here, there are six Q-23-T, which provide coverage right up to the bar, keeping the energy high and still inviting guests to converse. Two Q-10 subwoofers are hidden behind the columns of the room.”

“Just outside of the bar on either side, we placed two WR-8826 for the outdoor dining area on the East Patio or outdoor lounge on the West,” Gilman adds. “While the East Patio has a dedicated Q-10 Subwoofer with an IP Kit tucked away in a corner, another Q-10 with an IP Kit that is custom mounted to the ceiling is shared between half of the pool area and the West Patio. The pool deck features two Q-43-T joined as one unit above the white cabanas on each side of the deck, which amounts to a total of four systems pointing at the rooftop pool. Finalizing the design, there are two Q-10 subwoofers with IP Kits, hidden in the planter area, that provide the other half of the low-end for the pool deck. DAS Audio power amplifiers drive the entire setup.”

Gilman makes special reference to the fact that, “all zones can be tied to whatever activity is taking place because of the sound system’s overall flexibility”, and adds that “while we usually praise the loudspeakers, the champions of this installation are the power amps at the back of house. The flexibility and multiple models of the DAS IA Series amplifiers are responsible for a cost effective and space saving design. The amps played a huge role in this system’s versatility.”

The sound installation, completed in August 2020, “came out better than expected. The power and flexibility of the amplifiers and the fact that DAS has a wide range of systems that enabled us to make the perfect match to the various spaces, we created a versatile system that sounds terrific throughout the venue. Equally important, the Miami-based team genuinely cared about the installers and the end users—and that attitude always makes DAS the perfect fit!”

For information about ‘Skinny’ Greg Gilman and TM Sound, visit: www.skinnymaninc.com and www.tmsound.com.