Behind all the history, Washington, D.C. may surprise you as being an electronic dance music (EDM) destination. Topping its illustrious venue list is Echostage, a 30,000-plus-square-foot converted warehouse in its Langdon neighborhood. Opening in 2012, the venue was redesigned as an EDM spot, and the 3,000-capacity hybrid nightclub and concert hall has gained national notoriety ever since. As an international presence in the EDM scene, the sound system had to keep pace with the artists and their fans who walk through the door, and L-Acoustics had the answer.
“Every year we do our best to elevate the Echostage experience, and our new L-Acoustics L Series sound system creates one of the greatest live listening environments in the world,” said Pete Kalamoutsos, CEO at Club GLOW and owner of Echostage, CTRL, and Insomniac Events’ Project GLOW Festival.
L-Acoustics has become the expectation for EDM Venues, explained Marc Chauvin, CTO of Showtime Sound, which designed and installed the new sound system, who added that the company's sound systems are in all of the top clubs. "Echostage needed that for the riders of the artists who perform there. The venue’s production manager, Matt ‘Gonzo’ Gonzalez, was really a driving force behind this system’s selection. He knows exactly what artists are looking for, and there was never a question about what was going to go in—L-Acoustics was it from the start,” he said.
L Series, Supported by K and A Series, Rounds Out the Rig
Echostage’s new loudspeaker design features compact-yet-powerful left and right mains of one L-Acoustics L2 over one L2D, with each array backed by a hang of four KS28 subs flown in a cardioid configuration. The low end is bolstered by 16 more KS28 in eight stacks of two, lined across the face of the stage. One A15 Focus over two A15 Wide are flown per side as out-fill arrays, while two more pair of A15 Wide are positioned atop the ground subs for front-fill. LA7.16i amplified controllers power all L and A Series enclosures, while LA12X drive the subs. A second system for stage monitoring consists of three Kara II over a KS21 sub on each side of the stage. These are powered by three LA12X and one LA4X.
L2/L2D is the Future of Sound Reinforcement
Speaking after the debut weekend for the system, which featured shows by Galantis and KSHMR, Gonzalez praised the results. “The pattern control was impressive. This room really isn’t acoustically treated, and it was notable how much less energy and, by extension, how much less excitation of room modes was needed to make it sound full and impactful.”
Gonzalez concluded that the L Series install represents a new chapter in both the club’s technical evolution and in live sound technology. “You can sit back and take in the fact that technology is really moving on,” he said. “We see these big turning points every 10 or 15 years, these big technological markers, and L Series is clearly one of them. The fact that this system went up so quickly and that it is so consistent is fascinating. It’s been an eye-opening experience. We’ve seen the future, and with L-Acoustics, we’ve now heard it, too.”
