The Conga Room at LA Live Turns Up the Beat With JBL Loudspeaker System

The Conga Room is Los Angeles' number one Latin music venue, hosting top performers from around the world and offering a diverse range of Latin, world beat, urban, jazz, rock en Español and pop/rock. Located in the LA Live downtown entertainment district, The Conga Room recently upgraded its audio system with the installation of a complete JBL loudspeaker system comprised of VP (Venue Performance), VerTec and VRX Series loudspeakers.

Owned by celebrities including Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Rodriguez, will.i.am and others, The Conga Room combines musical excitement with style, sophistication and fine dining. When the owners decided to upgrade the audio system, they turned to Sound Image of Escondido, California for the audio system design and installation, in collaboration with AVS Production Group of the Bronx, NY. Both companies have 60 years combined experience in providing sound for stadiums, clubs, museums, houses of worship and other large venues.

“The Conga Room owners had very specific requirements,” noted Jason Schmidlapp of Sound Image. “Since the venue is owned by artists, they wanted the sound quality both on- and off-stage to satisfy their demanding standards. It had to be nothing less than exceptional. In addition, the system had to handle a wide range of music from quiet jazz to pounding, bass-heavy hip-hop, and accommodate live performers as well as DJs and pre-recorded music.”

Sound Image and AVS Production Group provided six JBL VerTec VT4887 compact line array elements (three per side) for the main left and right line arrays, along with 12 VP7212 powered loudspeakers and two VP7215 powered loudspeakers as monitors and two VP7210/95DP speakers for the delay channels. Rounding out the system are JBL VRX918S Constant Curvature arrayable subwoofers.

“Along with performance considerations, The Conga Room wanted the loudspeakers to be as inconspicuous as possible,” Schmidlapp said. “The VerTec line arrays were perfect for the task – their high continuous power rating and high directivity enabled them to provide more than enough volume and optimum coverage for the room, while maintaining a low visible profile.”

“The VP Series monitors deliver wide frequency response and don't take up a lot of space, and their built-in amplification and digital signal processing enabled us to precisely dial in their sound while making installation easier, since we did not have to use them with outboard amplifiers,” Schmidlapp continued. “The VRX918S subwoofers provide articulate, extended bass response and blend seamlessly with the other speakers in the system.”

“Sound Image has a long-standing relationship with JBL, and JBL systems are in use at other venues at LA Live, so we had an immediate comfort level in using them,” Schmidlapp concluded. “The system sounds superb, and The Conga Room is becoming a ‘go-to' destination for a growing number of artists across a broad range of genres.”

For more information on Sound Image, please visit http://www.sound-image.com.

For more information on AVS Production Group, please visit http://www.abevsystems.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.2 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2010. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

For additional information, contact:

Travis McGee

Definition Branding & Marketing

(212) 660-2555 ext. 24

[email protected]