Putting Fitness First: A New Sound Benchmark for UAE Gyms

A brand where audio quality is part of the experience

Fitness First Dubai Media City reopened in late 2025 after an extensive refurbishment, joining 10 other Fitness First outlets across the city. The brand has built its reputation on consistency across every part of the gym experience, and for this location, that included rethinking how sound is delivered across a two-storey venue with sharply different acoustic needs from one room to the next.

The project was delivered by Nu-Touch, a long-term Ecler brand partner, in partnership with Avenger Electronics, Ecler's regional distributor in the UAE. Nu-Touch founder Majed Zane brings a somewhat unusual vantage point to the project: more than two decades of association with Fitness First, first as a DJ and brand ambassador, later as an AV integrator. That dual perspective, from behind the console and from behind the mixing desk, shaped the brief from the outset: sound that stays warm and full at low output, rather than one that has to be pushed hard to feel energetic.

Why gym audio is harder than it looks

Many gyms run on 100V background systems that were never designed for the demands of group exercise, and tend to sound harsh or degrade within a few years of daily use. A single fitness club also has to satisfy contradictory briefs at once: quiet, controlled background music in a Pilates studio a few metres from a high-intensity cycling class that needs to feel loud, punchy and motivational, with reception, corridors, washrooms and an outdoor pool all requiring their own distinct treatment in between.

The objective at Media City was not simply to make each room loud enough. It was to give every zone its own tuning, so that a system running at a fraction of its maximum output still sounds full, rather than relying on volume to compensate for a design that doesn't fit the space.

A zone-by-zone system, not a single loud one

Nu-Touch's approach relied on low-impedance wiring across the training zones, generally the better choice for sound quality over 100V lines when cable runs allow it, reserving high-impedance 100V lines only for the Ecler eUC106 in-ceiling speakers covering washrooms and changing rooms, where simplicity of wiring matters more than fidelity.

Cardio, freestyle and common areas. More than 40 Ecler DROP6 pendant speakers, 6.5", 75 W at 8 Ω with a 70/100V line transformer, provide even coverage across the open training floors, complemented by 10 ARQIS SB10i wall-mounted subwoofer cabinets for low-end support in these transitional spaces.

Pilates studio. Four Ecler ARQIS 110i point-source cabinets, 10", 300 W, deliver a softer tonal balance suited to a lower-intensity practice, with ARQIS SB12i subwoofers adding subtle low-end warmth rather than physical impact.

Main Group Exercise studio. Voiced for high-intensity formats such as fusion, squat-based training and aerial yoga, this room uses ARQIS 112i cabinets, 12", 500 W, paired with LABI1-SB18 subwoofers for the low-end weight these formats call for.

Cycling studio. Four ARQIS 112i cabinets combine with a pair of LABI1-SB18 subwoofers and an ARQIS 110i used as an instructor stage monitor. Zane describes the result as one of the strongest rider experiences of any Fitness First location he has worked on, with the room staying clear and full at a fraction of the system's maximum output.

Outdoor pool. Eight Ecler eMOTUS8ODBK loudspeakers, 8", IP65-rated for outdoor use, are distributed around the perimeter, supported by two KICK-SB28 subwoofers described by Zane as vibration-free dual-18" designs, compact for their output. The zone runs quiet background music day to day, with headroom to raise levels for aqua-fitness sessions.

One zone, one amplifier, no central rack

Each studio operates as an independent zone driven by its own Ecler VIDA-24Q, VIDA-48Q or HADA-4B500 amplifier with built-in DSP, removing the need for a centralised amplifier rack. The VIDA series supports Dante/AES67 networked audio alongside analogue inputs and asymmetrical power distribution across its outputs (VersaPower), while the HADA series offers a comparable networkable, DSP-equipped alternative sized for smaller zones.

Instructors control each room through an Ecler PULSO-4 wall panel, connecting their phone directly via Bluetooth and using wireless microphones stored in secure racks. Gain presets cap the maximum level available to instructors, which removes a common failure point in gym audio: staff pushing analogue mixers too high and damaging the system or the listening experience for members. Instructors now pair a phone, start the class, and get consistent audio without adjusting anything.

Acoustic treatment behind the equipment

Equipment choice was only part of the design. Rock-wool acoustic isolation was built into the studios during construction to contain sound within each room and reduce reflections off mirrors and other hard, flat surfaces, exactly the kind of finish that, left untreated, tends to blur clarity in group exercise spaces. Nu-Touch also carried out calibration across every zone using measurement microphones to balance frequency response and eliminate overlapping coverage between adjacent rooms.

What the research says about music and exercise performance

A 2020 meta-analytic review published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Bulletin, drawing on decades of research into music's effects on sport and exercise, found consistent psychological, physiological and performance benefits from music during physical activity (Terry, Karageorghis, Curran, Martin & Parsons-Smith, 2020). Earlier controlled research from the same research group found that cyclists who moved in time with music required roughly 7% less oxygen to sustain the same workload compared with cycling to background music with no rhythmic synchronisation (Bacon, Myers & Karageorghis, 2008), evidence that music's role in a training environment goes beyond atmosphere and can measurably affect how efficiently the body works.

This is one of the reasons zone-specific tuning matters more in a fitness club than in most other hospitality settings: a cycling studio and a Pilates room are not just different rooms acoustically, they are different physiological contexts, and the music (and the system reproducing it) is doing different work in each one.

Results: a reference site for the region

Within a month of handover, Nu-Touch and Ecler were commissioned for three additional Fitness First clubs, with further sites planned in Abu Dhabi and beyond. In total, the Media City complex now runs more than 100 Ecler loudspeaker cabinets across its various zones.

Ecler's Middle East representative, Jithin Jose, notes that regional references from European clubs using the same product range helped build Fitness First's confidence in the brand ahead of selecting Dubai Media City as the pilot site. Avenger Electronics' sales and technical head, Nikhil Rayaroth, points to consistent stock availability and aftersales support through the distributor's own service centre as a factor that let Nu-Touch focus on design and delivery rather than logistics, including air-freighting a delayed subwoofer shipment at the distributor's own cost to meet the project deadline.

For members, the change is reported as immediately audible: fuller sound at lower output, clearer instruction in group classes, and a listening experience that, according to Zane, doesn't feel like the system is straining to fill the room.

FAQ

Why does a gym need different loudspeakers for different rooms? A Pilates class and a high-intensity cycling session call for different sound characters, softer and more controlled in one case, louder and more energetic in the other, and each room has its own acoustic behaviour depending on size, surfaces and use. Matching cabinet size, power and tuning to each zone lets the system sound full at low output rather than needing to be pushed to compensate for a mismatch between equipment and room.

Why use low-impedance wiring instead of a standard 100V system throughout? Low-impedance (8Ω) wiring generally delivers better sound quality and headroom than 100V line systems, but requires shorter cable runs and heavier gauge cabling to avoid power loss. Where those constraints work, as across most of Fitness First Dubai Media City's training zones, low impedance is the stronger choice for audio fidelity; 100V lines were reserved for the washrooms and changing rooms, where simpler wiring outweighed the fidelity trade-off.

How do instructors control the sound in each studio without a central rack? Each zone has its own networkable amplifier with built-in DSP, controlled locally through an Ecler PULSO-4 wall panel. Instructors pair a phone via Bluetooth and use a wireless microphone, with gain presets that cap the maximum output level, removing the need for a centralised control room or manual mixing.

Is there evidence that music affects performance during exercise, not just atmosphere? Yes. Peer-reviewed research has found that synchronising movement to music can measurably reduce the oxygen required to sustain a given workload during exercise, and a large meta-analytic review has documented consistent psychological and performance benefits from music across sport and exercise settings in general. This research is not specific to Fitness First Dubai Media City, where no independent performance data was collected for this case study.