Offering high-quality food, drink and live music to entertain its diners, China’s Grace chain of bar/restaurants has a new venue in Yangjiang city, Guangdong Province, where an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system was chosen to overcome architectural challenges.
Grace in Yangjiang has a 400m2 main area and a 100m2 mezzanine with classical Chinese décor that features a tiled roof of varying height, producing multiple reflections. Additionally, a tall decorative column challenges sound coverage from one side of the stage.
The live performances feature vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards and drums, and have a wide dynamic range. Guangzhou-based EAD was asked to design and install a sound reinforcement system, and chose an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon solution to overcome all of the potential issues.
The main dining area is covered by four RR12 point-source array modules, with four BF362 high-output subwoofers installed under the stage. Four VR8 compact versatile monitors cover the mezzanine area, with two more filling the area behind the decorative column. These have a set delay to ensure the frequency response curve and sound pressure on the left and right sides of the space are equal. The system is managed by two Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers.
‘We set up the RR12s in increments of 30° in the coupling plane and, thanks to their asymmetric 60° (+20°/-40°) in the non-coupling plane , we could cover the dining area but avoid the stage, meaning microphone feedback was not an issue,’ says Kanon Liang, EAD’s Alcons systems designer and one of the project’s construction supervisors.
Performances are mixed by Mr Xiong, who says he is very pleased at how the RR12 and VR8 connect smoothly between low and high frequencies.
‘The Alcons pro-ribbon loudspeakers are amazing,’ reports Grace operations manager, Mr Chen. ‘The indoor building structure caused difficulties with the sound reinforcement design, but the Alcons system successfully overcame all of the obstacles and the coverage is very accurate.’
More: www.alconsaudio.com
