Starkville, MS (November 21, 2016)—Rick’s Café isn’t far from Mississippi State University, and that’s helped it stay on top of the local entertainment game for decades. Since opening in 1994, the venue has hosted the likes of Snoop Dogg, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Maroon 5, Zac Brown Band, Jason Aldean, Sister Hazel, and Dierks Bentley, among others. Helping to ensure it will keep presenting stars and future stars, the venue recently updated its audio system with an installation tackled by Clair Brothers.
Owner Rick Welch knew it was time to update his audio system when he found himself increasingly renting outside systems to meet rider requirements. “The extra cost of renting equipment was significant,” he recalled, “and it was hurting my ability to afford artists at specific price points, so I decided it was time to upgrade my equipment. I only had one chance to do this and I wanted to do it right.”
It was clear from the start that the venue would be a difficult project, thanks to low ceilings, a relatively wide room, and only a two-foot stage height. “I was getting discouraged because proposals were coming in way over budget or some companies would not even call me back,” said Welch. “At first I didn’t think Clair Brothers was even an option for me, but that all changed from the first phone conversation with the Clair team.” and throughout the design conversations with
Engineer and VP, Josh Sadd, designed a system based around Clair’s curved array technology and its USLP218—under stage low profile double 18-inch sub. Answering the problem of low ceiling height and a need for wide coverage was Clair Brothers self-powered kiT Series, with a hang of three kiTCURVE12+ flown on each side, all bolstered by a pair of kiT12+ as centerfills and two kiT12+ as outfills. Low end is now provided by six USLP218s , powered by two Clair Brothers/Lab.gruppen D Series 200:4s amps with Lake Processing. In addition, a half-dozen Clair Brothers stereo pair wedges were chosen for monitors and a Clair Brothers ML18 paired with one wedge was used for drum fill, powered by two Clair Brothers/Lab.gruppen D Series 80:4s with Lake Processing.
Clair Brothers
www.claircompanies.com
