Offering 3,000 slot machines and 144 gaming tables, poker and ‘high-limit’ rooms, as well as several restaurants, a food court and themed bars that host live bands and DJs, the Graton Casino is billed as ‘California’s finest’.
Located north of San Francisco, the venue has an ‘open design’ and includes sophisticated A/V systems throughout. AVDB Group, an integrator headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, installed the A/V systems and completed much of the system design work after the original design firm ceased business.
According to AVDB Group CEO Scott Oosthuizen, Graton’s A/V systems’ functionality and programming are comparable to the best casinos in Las Vegas. Graton’s A/V systems communicate over a 254-channel Bluelink fibre-optic network that distributes 48 audio sources and multiple satellite video channels. Source selection, volume control and other functions are available through Crestron control panels allowing managers to fine-tune the audio and video atmosphere for areas as diverse as the casino itself, the sports bar or the invitation-only, high-limit poker room. Graton’s audio systems are also integrated into its security system and voice paging system.
As part of the design work, AVDB Group recommended Community’s Distributed Design Series loudspeaker family for all areas of the casino: ‘We prefer the sound of the Community loudspeakers over the ones originally specified and substituting Community also helped us meet the customer’s budget,’ Oosthuizen says, ‘Dropped ceiling areas use white Community D4, D8, D10 and D10SUB ceiling loudspeakers. The open-ceiling steak house features black DP6 pendant loudspeakers. Other areas, including the outdoor parking lot use white DS5 surface-mount loudspeakers. ‘The DS5s are weather-resistant, so we were able to maintain the same sound quality indoors and outdoors.’
Local newspapers reported long queues of customers waiting to enter Graton on its opening, and reviews have been positive – Oosthuizen reports the casino’s owners as pleased with the sound quality throughout the casino and with the appearance and ease of operation of the A/V systems.
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