Close to London’s O2 Arena and Excel Exhibition centre, Crowne Plaza Docklands is a 210-bedroom hotel featuring the Fremantle Bar & Restaurant – a new Australasian-inspired all-day restaurant with an audio infrastructure from A/V specialist Middlesex Sound.
With a brief to deliver a high-quality, zoned audio system that met the hotel’s specific aesthetic requirements, Middlesex Sound supplied and installed a turnkey solution from Optimal Audio. ‘There were four separate zones we needed to cater for,’ says Middlesex Sound Director, Darrel Olivier.
‘There was the main bar, restaurant and a private dining area and terrace. It was important to deliver consistent, high-quality audio across the spaces, so we employed 16 Optimal Audio Cuboid 6 speakers, which ensured the coverage we needed.
‘The Cuboid 6 was an ideal fit for this project because of its very flexible mounting and positioning options with included flying hardware, and it and sounds extremely good. The fact that the speaker is available in white as well as black meant it fit with the Fremantle design aesthetic too.’
Alongside the Cuboid 6 speakers, a pair of Cuboid 6TX models (featuring the same two-way, full range, 6.5-inch driver/1-inch silk dome tweeter design as the Cuboid 6, with additional 60w transformer for use on 70V or 100V taps) and two Cuboid 5 loudspeakers also featured in the installation.
A Zone 4 audio controller manages the speakers across each of the zones, its onboard DSP, flexible routing and programmability providing versatile but straightforward control for inputs that include two music players and a BT Sports TV package.
‘It’s a great solution, with built-in presets for the Cuboid speakers, so it makes set-up and day-to-day use extremely simple,’ Oliviersays. ‘To give staff hands-on access we also installed a ZonePad 4 wall controller in the master position in the bar, so any of the four zones can be adjusted from here. It’s a very intuitive, unobtrusive panel that any member of staff can operate – the private dining area also features the even simpler ZonePad 1 panel.
‘We’re seeing an increasing demand from our customer’s customers for really high-quality audio to create an atmosphere and add to their experience in hospitality environments. Optimal Audio is a valuable one-stop shop solution for projects like this, with zoners and speakers that deliver great performance and ease of use at an excellent price point.’
