Every party needs good music, and every big party needs loud music. Jonah Holter supplies both. As owner and architect of HeadWay HiFi Sound System, he operates what’s perhaps the largest hand-built speaker system in Milwaukee.
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“We’ve broken 120 decibels before,” says Holter.
That’s roughly the same volume as a thunderclap or a jet plane taking off. But the loudness isn’t the whole thing, according to Holter, who’s been DJing for over a decade.
“It’s a feeling of a rhythmic G-force of pressure. It’ll shake your eyeballs if you’re close to it, and you can feel the pressure in your chest from 100 feet out. The sound system culture is meant to bring people together, and it motivates you to dance and move because you can really feel the music.”
Inspired by the huge speakers used in Jamaica, Holter built his first sound system about four years ago. His second, most recent build is almost 8 feet tall and just as wide. It has eight huge subwoofers and several other speakers, sound drivers and cabling. Altogether, it weighs nearly 2,000 pounds.
Holter says he’s one of just three or four individuals operating systems like this in Milwaukee. He regularly sets up big shows at Club Timbuktu and uses a slimmed-down system at Quarters, both on East Center Street in Riverwest. He also packs the whole system into his van and travels out of state for events and festivals.
“I built the system with a focus on reggae and dubstep music,” he says. “But it’s all tunable and we’ve pushed all kinds of music through it – hip-hop, funk, soul, pop. As long as it has a good, clean, bass-centric sound, this system is going to thrive and deliver.”
