The Chicago outpost of nightclub and restaurant hybrid TAO is housed in a landmarked Romanesque Revival building in Chicago. Designed by Rockwell Group, the space’s aesthetics reflect the theme of existing TAO locations with Asian-inspired décor. The restaurant seats up to 300 diners and hosts a DJ booth while the 7,000-square-foot, 1,000-person capacity nightclub resides on the second floor and is equipped with two bars, a lounge area, dance floor and DJ booth. Rockwell’s go-to AV consultant Anthem Sound Stage and Lighting selected K-array to meet the many aesthetics, performance, reliability and sound quality requirements presented by the clients. A combination of Python-KP52 and Python-KP102 loudspeakers were integrated seamlessly in the main dining area paired with 6 Thunder-KMT18P 18” passive subwoofers driven by two Kommander-KA24 and two Kommander-KA84 amplifiers.
Tornado-KT2C and Tornado-KT2 point sources were in abundance and installed throughout the room. The DJ booth in the restaurant was equipped with one Dragon-KX12 driven by one Thunder-KMT18 I sub. - Anthem suggested to use a live sound system that was less aggressive than the other TAO locations for a better experience for the clubgoers, but yet still maintained a powerful sound with high-definition and TAO was moreover impressed with the high performance from its compact design that integrated perfectly. For the main PA, 8 Firenze-KH7 loudspeakers were flown in each corner with 8 Dragon-KX12 point sources above the VIP tables.
For the low end, 6 Mugello-KS5 subwoofers were dispersed around the room while 3 Firenze-KS8 subs were installed under the console at the DJ booth, which was equipped with 4 Dragon-KX12 units paired with 4 Thunder-KMT18 I subs. TAO's nightclub celebrated its opening weekend in late September with performances by several high-profile DJs, including DJ Ruckus and EDM superstar Deadmau5 leaving no room for error from the system. After a successful launch and continued satisfaction with the audio, the owners and Anthem are all happy with the system’s sound performance.
