The venue is just completing a $4m refurbishment with the magnificently renovated Bar & Grill up and running for a few weeks already. Designed by Paul Kelly, the Bar & Grill with dark colours, funky lights, beautiful wooden finishes, stone walls and tartan carpet, it is a modern yet classic look.
The audio visual requirements for the Bar & Grill, as well as the 1936 Bar and function rooms, was taken care of by InSound who decided upon a JBL solution with Crown CTS amplifiers.
"Previously this area of the venue was serviced by JBL Contractor speakers but the owners wanted to increase the sound output" explained Bruce Ensor, managing director of InSound. "We've installed 16 JBL AC18/26 compact two-way speakers and four JBL AC16 ultra compact speakers plus four of the new JBL ASB6112 passive sub woofers which are hidden in the seating. It gives us mass coverage of the whole place and as to the sound quality - well the owners have a smile on their faces so it must be pretty good! I certainly think it is."
A Soundweb London BSS BLU-160 network signal processor is controlled via a computer in the office so that each individual pair of speakers can be set to different volume levels, different treble or bass. Staff can control the system via iPads. Eventually the entire hotel will run on BLU-Link.
The 1936 Bar was also given a new sound system as their existing JBL system attracted that much of a crowd, it eventually wasn't powerful enough!
"We upgraded all of the speakers and the amplification and it's performing very, very well," commented Bruce. "We've gone from one subwoofer with a 12" driver to two JBL ASB6118 subwoofers with 18" drivers. We moved the existing JBL speakers down the end of the room where the seating is situated and then installed four JBL AM5212 speakers to service the area that gets turned into a dance floor. A couple of Crown CTS amplifiers power the system. On Friday and Saturday nights it is packed."
The upstairs function room has eight JBL AC18/26 Compact Loudspeakers and two JBL ASB6112 Passive Sub Woofers with Soundweb London BSS BLU-120 Signal Processing and Crown CTS amplifiers.
(Jim Evans)
