Hidden away in a quiet mews off Streatham’s busy High Road, the Hideaway is one of London’s most successful live music venues.  With a popularity that’s fast outgrowing the venue’s initial billing as “South London’s Best Kept Secret”, it’s developing an excellent reputation for its predominantly Jazz-focused schedule, encompassing Latin, Funk and Soul sessions.  It also features a regular comedy night.

Helping to fuel the club’s growing reputation is its recently upgraded sound system, which is receiving considerable praise from performers and audiences alike.  Freelance sound engineer Cliff Scott, who specialises in jazz, explained:
“When the club first opened it did experience some problems with its original system.  Although this was a fine enough installation from many points of view, it was not ideal for live music, and the Hideaway called me in for advice.  As an interim measure, I re-positioned the speakers and applied some additional BSS 966 EQs, while researching a more permanent solution that would inevitably involve upgrading the loudspeakers and amplifiers.

“My intention for revising the club’s system was originally to use d&b audiotechnik E9 loudspeakers, together with d+B Ci subs, as I’ve had excellent results with this combination before, particularly for the mix of material featured at the Hideaway.  I’ve been a fan of d&b audiotechnik speakers for many years, and love their sound – especially for live jazz – as they deliver the clarity and accuracy that jazz aficionados tend to demand.

“Tom Byrne at Orbital kindly lent me some Ci90s to try out in situ but, because of the club’s relatively low ceiling height, these could only be mounted horizontally. And as you can’t rotate the horns on this model, we couldn’t easily achieve the necessary dispersion angles.  I went back to Orbital, and the suggestion was to try out both the E12 and E8 systems.  The E12s came out as favourites and, to make quite sure, Tom let me take some away to compare with the Ci90s back in the club.  Being new to the E12s, I had initially been a little sceptical, but they were a revelation – very good in the room, with their rotatable horn enabling a perfect set-up.  They deliver exactly the performance improvements that the club needed, and are sufficiently small and discrete not to block the audience’s view of the stage. 

“Musicians and audiences have commented very favourably on the improvements.  We have installed three E12 units, together with some d&b audiotechnik E0 enclosures as infills for the tables in a corner, just behind the E12s’ line of sight. Many venues wouldn’t worry about specific coverage for these tables, but this attention to detail is typical of the club’s attitude to customers’ enjoyment. The system is set up to generate a well-balanced mix of natural to reinforced sound, with enough direct level coming off the stage even with the quieter players.  It’s an excellent venue, with a great look and feel, and has to be one of the best I’ve worked in!”

The new loudspeakers are all being driven by just two d&b audiotechnik D6 power amplifiers, with one unit driving the main stereo pair of E12s, and the other driving the third E12 and the infill E0s.  Cliff is using the third E12 to ensure accurate coverage throughout the club, including a sofa area that is offset to one side – a straightforward stereo pair was considered insufficient, given the club’s geometry.  The system is mixed via an Allen & Heath GL2400 console, which also generates four stage mixes, typically used at fairly low level, for musicians that require monitoring.  2 x BSS 966 dual EQs were installed to adjust the monitor feeds.

Businesswoman Frances Strachan, Hideaway’s creator and owner, is very pleased with the end result, commenting:
“You obviously can’t separate a successful live music venue from the quality of its sound system.  By its nature, our clientele is discerning and musically literate, and is quick to criticise any perceived shortcomings.  Our new system has been extremely well received, and we are getting numerous compliments about the quality and clarity.  When the band’s good, and the system sounds right, people just sit-back and enjoy – reinforcing our image as an important new venue with a relaxed ambience, and one that’s capable of showcasing the best talent around.”