Nashville is the home of country music and also makes a strong case for being America’s Music Capital. Legendary country music venues include the Grand Ole Opry House and the historic Ryman Auditorium. At the same time, a multitude of honky-tonks dot the cityscape, featuring live music and aspiring artists hoping nightly for their big break to come along. One of the hidden music gems can be found on the outskirts of Nashville, tucked away on 50 acres of farmland at the end of a three-quarter mile-long driveway — Chas Sandford’s Secret Studio.
As a hit songwriter and publisher, Sandford is the recipient of twelve ASCAP “Most Performed Songs” awards, including John Waite’s “Missing You,” Chicago’s “What Kind of Man Would I Be” and Stevie Nicks’ “Talk To Me.” His songs have also been recorded by several music legends, including Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Brooks & Dunn, Alison Krauss, Rick Springfield, Sammy Hagar, and many others. Sandford’s bona fides don’t end there — as a producer, he’s worked with world-renowned artists like Roger Daltrey, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. When Sandford wanted to expand his studio’s capabilities to include Dolby Atmos, he turned to the industry-leading amplifiers from LEA Professional.
“In reviewing the specific requirements for our installation, LEA Professional amps checked all of the boxes perfectly,” said Sandford. “It was a breeze setting them up, we basically set them up once and forgot it. Once the system was tuned, I was floored by how great it sounded! The system performs flawlessly and sounds fabulous.”
Like many others in the music industry, Sandford’s quest to enjoy music at its highest level brought him to NAMM, where he served on a panel for Creating Your Own Atmos Studio. The panel was facilitated by Dave Malekpour, President of The PAD Group (Professional Audio Design), who used Secret Sound to explain why Dolby Atmos could benefit Sandford and how to implement it effectively. Sandford was hooked and worked with Malekpour to make it a reality using the studio’s preexisting gear, including Augspurger monitors.
“Sandford wanted to use his existing isolation rack, which had limited space available,” said Malekpour. “We chose LEA amps primarily because of the Dante connectivity and the ability to fit into one rack space with four channels of great specifications and super low noise. An added benefit was that the amplifiers themselves don’t make a lot of noise or generate a lot of heat — they were just really efficient and effective in this installation.”
Malekpour installed a combination of multiple Connect Series 702D and 704Ds in the studio to power the PMC speakers. Both 1U amplifiers are well-suited for installations requiring high flexibility, making them the perfect choice for Secret Sound. With 96kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options, the IoT-enabled 2-channel 702D and the 4-channel 704D provide 700 watts per channel, support Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel, and feature Smart Power Bridge technology. With three ways to connect, the studio can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the building’s Wi-Fi, or connect to the local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
The Connect Series delivers an industry-first professional amplifier family to feature cloud connectivity, a revolutionary advancement and a significant benefit for anyone maintaining the systems. With LEA Cloud, AV teams can remotely control and monitor the amplifiers regardless of the location or time of day. Whether from within the lab or across the country, controlling the Connect Series amplifiers from afar helps teams work more efficiently, reducing travel and saving time and money.
“Amplifiers have a big impact on how the speakers perform, how the low end is delivered, and the naturalness of it,” said Malekpour. “And the LEA amps are a great product, literally Dante-enabled little powerhouses. I highly recommend them, and I think I’ll use them again probably every chance I get.”
