Meyer Sound News : Audio Conceptos

Audio Conceptos

"When I first met with Scott Gledhill, Meyer Sound's international sales director, I told him that we were not interested in handling Meyer equipment to gain status or prestige. We wanted to handle Meyer so that we could work with the right equipment to do the job right... He understood perfectly."

- Dave Chou,
General Manager and Founder
Leifull Enterprises

Formed a little more than a year ago, Audio Conceptos (Santiago, Republica Dominicana) occupies the lead position in what the company's President, Jose Gutierrez, describes as a "virgin market" for audio professionals.

In a very short time, Audio Conceptos has managed not only to establish itself as "the source for the best sounding equipment in the country," according to Gutierrez, but the company is also well on its way to realizing its larger goal: "Part of our plan was to raise the standards in the audio field in the Dominican Republic," says Gutierrez, "and I think it's working."

"Before we began operations, the audio quality of live music shows in the Dominican was always very mediocre because only low-end equipment was available. Equipment had to come from either Puerto Rico or the States... Audio Conceptos has provided equipment for a number of well-attended and highly publicized events, so people have learned very quickly that now there is an alternative."

Audio Conceptos has been the equipment supplier for numerous shows designed by MG Sound. Gutierrez is the system designer for MG Sound and its co-owner. Since MG Sound is the only company in the Caribbean using Meyer equipment, the shows that they have designed have also proven to be showcases for Meyer Sound.

ON MEYER SOUND EQUIPMENT
"In my market, if you specify Meyer Sound equipment for a show, you are talking about charging as much as three or four times what other local sound companies might charge for loudspeaker support. Of course, everyone thinks this is expensive. They don't believe you when you walk in with a system: 'Oh, this is what you are going to show me?' They almost laugh. I say, Yes, this is the Meyer system. Come back in 20 minutes. I set up the demo system and I ask the customer for a favorite CD... When they hear how much sound pressure you can get out of a UPA, when they hear how the speakers are always in phase... Well, no more laughs... the value is so obvious that people say: 'Oh, now I see, now I see what you are talking about.'"

"I was fortunate to train at Full Sail in Orlando (using Meyer Sound MSL-3s, UMs, UPAs, 650s). I have experience working with Wolf Sound, Inc. (Miami) at 'Festival Presidente de Musica Latina' in Santo Domingo (June 3 - 5) and three years as a House Engineer for the Miami Reggae Festival. So I come from a place where everything is done correctly. It's not that way here at all...

"People in the audio business here haven't had the advantage of formal technical education. So one of the things that we wanted to do - and Meyer has been very positive in their support here - is to establish a series of seminars where we try to educate the market... We held the first one in Santiago (at Audio Conceptos home offices) and it ran a full week with 54 people attending. We are making arrangements for two more seminars before the end of the year, the next one in Santo Domingo...

"Audio people in the Dominican know what they hear, but often they don't know why. But as soon as you point out to them what is going on, they understand immediately: 'Oh, that's why... I should not have put the subs on the top of the stage... There's a phantom image. No wonder.'

Meyer has been very supportive of what we are trying to do here in this market. They are very helpful. There's no question, no situation - not even if it's outside the range of their normal experience or even their expertise - no question that they will not find a knowledgeable answer for."

Installations

"In November of last year, Ambis Discothèque was undergoing a major renovation--they have been in business for 16 years--and also adding a new room to hold 600 people. The club owner, Santiago Polanco, knew he would need more power and coverage in this new space, so when I told him what we could do with Meyer equipment, he was very anxious for a demo.... We demoed a system for Ambis and they loved it. But time was a big issue because the system had to be ready for the first week of December. I talked to Scott Gledhill at Meyer about this deadline, and he just made it happen. What a wonderful experience! After the club system was installed, Meyer Sound sent Salvador Castañedas to SIM the club and fine-tune the system."

"Another client, Galo Mariot, was building a new, 300-seat club and he made it known to Richard Martinez - a well-known Dominican sound engineer--that he wanted the best sound equipment available. Richard called Audio Conceptos right away. We worked with him and presented the project to Galo based on Meyer equipment... Galo was honestly amazed to hear that the best sound equipment was already available in the Dominican Republic. He called the U.S. and Puerto Rico to check out our 'story.' The answer always came back the same: 'Meyer is the best.' With recommendations like those, the rest was easy."

SIM System II for Installations
"The Dominican Republic is a mixture of many cultures and therefore many styles of music have to be played at clubs, so we have to get a nice curve of EQ and balance the system to accommodate the different beats and instruments to this various rhythms.

"The SIM machine has become an essential part of our services. I'm sure we at Audio Conceptos can't live without it. More than half of the company's projects rely on SIM."

Audio Conceptos
c/ Euclides Morillo #84
Edif. Don Carlos IX. C-301
Arroyo Honda, Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
phone: 809 626.0716
fax: 809 549.3675
contact: Jose Gutierrez
email ventas@audioconceptos.com
website www.audioconceptos.com

October, 2003