Genelec Revs Up the Experience at New York City’s BFX Studio
— Boutique fitness club outfits its core spinning suite with Genelec 8030B powered speakers to create an immersive environment for its members —
NATICK, MA — BFX Studio, in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, takes fitness training to another level. The upscale club offers a complete multi-discipline, cross-training approach to fitness and well-being, pairing high-caliber instruction with boutique-style intimacy. Training sessions are led by “Xperts” — top-caliber trainers in their respective specialties, as well as internationally acclaimed fitness presenters, all working in luxurious facilities and using cutting-edge fitness technology. BFX Studio, its website will tell you, “engages, inspires, and challenges clients to drive results.” BFX Studio also includes sound in that immersive approach, and for that it demands the same level of quality it does of its trainers and equipment. That’s why the club’s core facility, a 50×25-foot spinning salon, Ride Republic, features speakers from Genelec, the world’s leading manufacturer of active speakers.
Paramus, New Jersey-based AV systems integrator Communications Engineering Management (CEM) installed 18 Genelec 8030B speakers throughout the room, as well as three Genelec 7050 subwoofers. The speakers are all ceiling mounted, using Genelec ceiling mounts attached to Unistrut® mounts, configured in six rows of three speakers each, all downward firing. Music and speech are mixed through a Rane® HAL-2 mixer.
What makes Genelec the best fit for fitness is its clarity and sonic quality, says Eric Olsen, Managing Partner at CEM. “From a sound point of view, nothing else comes close,” he says. “To get a complete sense of immersion, you need believable sound, and that’s what the Genelecs give you.”
Their sonic quality also means no listener fatigue, meaning a spinner is more likely to stay longer in the room. “And from an installation and maintenance perspective, the Genelecs are also great,” Olsen adds. “They’re self-powered, so we don’t have to think about power distribution. Every way you look at it, the Genelecs come out on top. They always do.”