MMS account manager Paul Woodward explained: "We have been on board with Chorion since the Tiger Tiger brand was inaugurated in London’s Haymarket. Croydon is immaculate and shows just how far the brand has evolved since the London site - every aspect of the installation has changed."
Chorion switched to Martin Audio after opening their other multi-bar unit, On Anon - just 400m away from Tiger Tiger in London’s Piccadilly - two years ago. "They were seeking a higher quality, crisper hi-fi sound - and since it was in the early days of the relationship I knew I had to do something dramatic." So he took Chorion’s technical services manager, Jeremy Dowding, to a demo at Martin’s HQ in High Wycombe, where the system performed to order. "As soon as they came across the EM26 they knew they had the answer to their prayers," recalls Paul. "The previous system just didn’t sound good enough when the bars started to get busy."
No fewer than 70 EM26s are used in Croydon - 18 in Tiger Bar, three in the restaurant, six in the Cocktail Bar, 12 in the Turkish Bar, 10 in the Lounge Bar and 36 in Raffles Bar - as well as a pair for DJ monitoring. The bars are driven by combinations of Martin Audio MA1.6 amplifiers and each has its own audio source selector.
The nightclub area is served by six custom-hung Martin Audio EM186 speakers, with a pair of EM251 sub bass, powered by a pair of Martin Audio MA2.8 and a pair of 1.6 amplifiers. Since all the bars have different music profiles, control and signal processing of the output from the four Rolec hard disk storage computers are stored in four BSS Soundwebs, and can be delivered to any of the designated seven sound zones. Each zone also has its own DJ input. "The EM-26 is the one speaker that fits all Chorion’s application requirements - perfectly," says Woodward. "They choose to use little and often of these extremely high quality loudspeakers."
For all its utility characteristics, the EM26 isn’t used exclusively by Music Marketing Services off-dancefloor. They have also used pairs of the smaller EM15s in the snugs and alcoves, C516 ceiling speakers in the restaurant and EM251s where extra bass reinforcement is required. The 2,000-plus capacity Tiger Tigers will continue to evolve through premium, large footprint urban leisure development sites. With the newly-formed Urbium inheriting the legacy of late night bars following the demerger from Chorion, next year’s move into mainland Europe with the Tiger Tiger brand seems certain to succeed.
(Lee Baldock)
