Case Study / Club & Lounge
Boomy bass and rattling decorative panels solved through the system setup, without tearing out the interior.
Project summary
- Challenge
- Rattling composite panels, piled-up bass and muddy mid-highs; the previous proposal was to strip out and rebuild the interior.
- Solution
- Keep the system that still fitted, re-check the signal flow, move the subs to a curved subwoofer array and tune phase, alignment, EQ and limiters.
- Result
- A setup fix that targets the exact source of the resonance, while the interior and the suitable equipment stay in place.
From First Survey to Handover
01 / Diagnosis
When we took on Oslo Club in 2021, this 225m² premium lounge in District 1 had serious sound problems: boomy bass, mid/highs that turned muddy and harsh with high-energy music and, above all, decorative composite panels that rattled loudly — the bass energy was free to hit the panels head-on and make them resonate. Guests sitting near the panels and under the mezzanine felt the sound pressing in on them and tired quickly. The previous contractor had proposed tearing out and redoing all the soundproofing and acoustic treatment, at a cost of 1.5–2 billion VND.
02 / Engineering decision
The existing system — six Martin Audio 1×15-inch full-range speakers as the Main Stage, eight 1×18-inch subs under the stage, two outfills and eight 1×12-inch full-range speakers for the mezzanine, all on FFA amplifiers — was still in good condition, so we decided not to tear anything out: we kept the speaker positions, re-ran the signal lines as balanced connections and standardised the Gain Staging on the amplifiers to get the most Headroom and avoid distortion at high power. The core of the fix was moving the eight 1×18-inch subs to an electronically curved subwoofer array configuration with electronic delay, bending the bass beam to cover the dance floor evenly instead of hitting the composite panels. In Smaart, we aligned the timing and phase between the subs, the Main Cluster and the mezzanine speakers, used Notch Filter EQ to cut the 60Hz–120Hz range that made the panels resonate, and locked Multi-stage Limiters to the real output power of the FFA amplifiers. We mixed demo sets ourselves and trained the club technician on the Gain control chain from the DJ mixer → DSP → amplifier.
03 / Verification and value
The bass covers the whole VIP area within ±2.5 dB without harshness. The composite panel rattle is completely gone. The owner kept all the Martin Audio speakers and FFA amplifiers, did not spend another 1.5–2 billion VND rebuilding the interior, and the club did not close for a single day while the work was done.
“The wall rattle is completely gone. The VIP tables near the subs can sit for hours without that pressure on the chest, and the Mid-High is soft and far more open.”
Before and After
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Bass coverage & SPL | Bass hitting the panels head-on, guests near the panels feeling the pressure | Even within ±2.5 dB across the VIP area; SPL steady at operating levels checked at handover |
| Original proposal | The previous contractor proposed stripping out and redoing the soundproofing/treatment (1.5–2 billion VND) | Interior and equipment kept, fixed through the DSP and the sub configuration |
| Equipment used | The whole speaker system expected to be replaced | All the existing Martin Audio speakers and FFA amplifiers kept in use |
Frequently asked questions
Why does an electronically curved subwoofer array stop composite panels from rattling?
Composite panels vibrate freely when they meet their resonant bass frequency. A electronically curved subwoofer array steers the bass energy into the centre of the dance floor, cutting the pressure on the panels by 6–9dB, combined with a Notch Filter on the exact frequency that excites them.
Can reverberation and rattling interiors be fixed for good without redoing the acoustic treatment?
Sometimes, if the PA is exciting a resonance, placement, alignment and EQ can reduce that excitation. Loose panels, structural transmission or inadequate absorption still need physical assessment; DSP does not replace repair or acoustic treatment.
