Pioneer Pro powers up Palm Springs Reforma
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Since its opening in December 2022, the 9,000sq.ft venue has brought Latin American culture and cuisines from Mexico, Central, and South America to the City’s historic downtown main strip. Embodying pan-Latin energy throughout, up to 750 guests can enjoy executive chef Erick Hernandez’s creations in the main dining room, or during one of the many themed nights ranging from EDM and Latin to drag shows in the nightclub and bar space.
As construction for the venue began, Reforma owner Rob Giesecke and his team conducted a noise study to determine the best sound system solution that would complement the building’s architectural design and encapsulate energy while also being respectful to neighbourhood residents.
Giesecke enlisted Alex Montenegro, owner and system designer at Sonus Systems, to specify and deploy a solution that suited the venue’s needs. With the ownership group's existing purchase and experience with Pioneer Pro Audio at Reforma’s sister venue, Chill Bar, the familiarity provided everything they needed to choose the brand for their next venture.
“We’ve worked with Alex for quite some time, since we installed a Pioneer system at Chill Bar in 2019,” Giesecke explained. “The system he installed for us had a level of robustness that I have not experienced with any other sound system. To this day, the system has held up extremely well, so we knew we would go with Pioneer Pro Audio again.”
Alex Montenegro provided various products from Pioneer Pro Audio’s’s XY Series. The warehouse ceiling of the raw space was replaced with the decorative ceiling of the original department store and integrated with speakers in both the dining room and event space. The units were tuned to accommodate each room’s specific needs while also providing flexibility to be synced or utilised separately.
Among the products, the team utilised 12 of the XY-2E which allows the venue to build point-source arrays in a wide variety of configurations. The XY-2E maintains the favoured X-phase system while enabling individual control of the 8-inch cone driver and 1-inch compression driver.
“Pioneer products have always been high-performing and reliable but what is so favorable about the XY Series specifically is how they continue to upgrade them,” Alex Montenegro shared, “For example, the ease of integration into our space is highly desirable as they can put them into various clusters.”
Additionally, Reforma utilised surface mount CM Series, the small surface mount speakers are suitable for discreet installation in a variety of spaces where reliability is crucial while producing high-quality sound. Within the series the team utilised 18 CM-S56T throughout the bathrooms, corridors and lounges, which are built to blend and fill tight spaces with punchy sound.
The venue’s successful soft-opening during Pride Week 2022 featured DJ Harvey as its first performer. “If you want someone to christen your sound system, DJ Harvey is your guy.” Giesecke shared. “Harvey called the system a monster and was happy with the results, like other artists who have performed since.” Reforma officially opened its doors on New Year’s Eve.
