Counting former football star Rio Ferdinand among its owners, Manchester’s Rosso Restaurant & Bar recently completed an extensive audio refit at the hands of live sound and installation company Neuron Pro Audio assisted by Danley Sound Labs’ new UK distributor – aptly named Danley UK.

‘We have been the audio contractor for the restaurant since around 2012, when failure issues appeared in the system installed by the prior contractor,’ explains Neuron Pro Audio MD, Kyle Marriott. ‘Sadly, they were simply not happy with their initial set-up. Coverage was inconsistent – some diners were deafened while others couldn’t hear anything, and there was zero control over levels or tonality. We had patched up and improved on this where we could, but the speakers themselves always let the restaurant down in terms of sound quality and coverage.’

The fact that Rosso almost never closes proved an obstacle a comprehensive refit, leaving Neutron making incremental improvements to the existing installation for several years – replacing amplifiers when they failed, and adding a DSP front-end and new cabling to split the restaurant into separately controllable zones. Neutron also created EQ filters for the cabinets using measurement software and built bespoke DJ and live performance consoles to fit the décor. The company had even modified and rehung some of the existing speakers for better coverage and sound level.

‘But there was always the intension and understanding that we would eventually be given the go-ahead to install a properly designed system…’ Marriott says.

Rosso management gave that go-ahead in anticipation of the restaurant’s ten-year anniversary. ‘The space is beautiful and the clientele expects the highest quality, while also appreciating something a little exclusive,’ Marriott says. ‘Our experience with Danley’s ability to get hi-fi sound and specs that match reality, along with the fact this would be the first permanent installation of Danley speakers in the UK made it an excellent fit.

‘Our goal was simply to get the best sound possible at every seat, whilst also allowing for extra oomph when it got busy at the bar. We were able to show – via Danley Direct modelling software – that the new system could achieve that goal and more with less than half the number of speakers used in the existing installation.’

The restaurant is split into a reception area with a fireplace, a bar area, a main seating area, and a raised seating area with ceiling-high windows and mirrored walls for extra light – or ‘for that VIP experience’, according to Marriott. Two Danley SM60F loudspeakers cover the bar area, and six Danley SH-Mini loudspeakers distributed around the room cover the dining areas. A single Danley TH-212 subwoofer installed inside a custom cabinet with a brass grille near the bar fireplace fills Rosso with low-end. ‘We had to drill a hole through two feet of marble floor to run the subwoofer cable invisibly,’ Marriott reports.

Inputs range from background music via the CBurn platform, vocalists and instrumentalists with backing tracks, the occasional small function band, and regular DJ performance on weekends. The CBurn playlist system is tailored to management’s taste and updated regularly with new playlists to ensure that the background music is kept fresh and appropriate. BSS Blu-160 with custom Blu-10 touchpanel serves as the system-wide DSP, paired with six Void Acoustics Infinite 4 and Infinite QX4 amplifiers.

‘Rosso provides a high-class dining experience in a beautiful setting, and the new Danley technology allows the background music to be delivered with purity and clarity to each seat,’ Marriott says. ‘The Synergy Horn technology let us focus each speaker to a particular area without bleed between multiple sources spread around the room.’