Typical of midtown Manhattan many taverns, the narrow frontage of the Pig ’n’ Whistle conceals the true depth and height – it spans two floors and extends deep into the building it occupies.

‘It’s only about 25-ft wide, but it’s more than 75-ft deep, and there’s an open veranda and dining area upstairs, with a high open ceiling,’ confirms Rich Trombitas of Cornwall-based Cardone Solomon & Associates Inc. ‘But it’s a beautiful place. The architecture is just stunning, the finish and detail looks wonderful. But sonically it’s very challenging...

‘The stage is located on the second level and – particularly on Friday and Saturday nights when they have Irish bands and DJs in here – the noise level can be a real challenge.’

Fitted out by New York-based Starview Satellite, the main floor of the bar is served by three wall-mounted Renkus-Heinz TRX82 two-way cabinets per side, with low-frequency coverage augmented by a PNX212 subwoofer mounted in a closet, as well as an SGX-12S sub concealed at the end of a banquet seating area. The second level veranda and dining area is served by six SGX61 compact two-way boxes, with a second SGX12S sub.

The system design was further complicated by architectural changes during the construction phase that limited the number of viable locations for speaker mounting. ‘We were originally going to go with six TRX81 cabinets per side, but we replaced them with three of the TRX82s,’ says Trombitas. ‘It’s a longer cabinet, with two 8-inch woofers. They turned out to be perfect for the application, because you’ve got 120° coverage that’s uniform throughout the entire listening area. You can walk all the way from the front to the back and the coverage is nice and even.’

Despite the challenges, Trombitas says the installation is a great success: ‘The owners love the system,’ he says. ‘They’re getting good-quality background music during the day, and high-impact performance with great vocal sound at night for DJs and live shows. It sounds great on both floors, with no feedback issues.’

More: www.renkus-heinz.com