A new £3.5 million development project in Aberdeen has been equipped with a multizone Martin Audio/QSC sound reinforcement package, specified by contractors Absolute Audio Systems.

The exclusive club, bar and restaurant is housed in a three-storey 19^th century granite building, which has been sensitively converted (and extended) by Edinburgh-based architects/designers Kerr Blyth Associates (KBA).

The result is ‘The Albyn’, which provides Aberdeen-based owners, European Development Company (EDC), with the jewel in their leisure crown.

Working with architectural technicians, Canale Associates, KBA designed a two-storey extension to the rear of the property to incorporate the bar, restaurant and entertainment area, featuring a grand piano, acoustically tuned and suspended ceiling mirrors and booth seats. The members’ lounge underneath is specifically designed for the over 30’s crowd with a two-level Martini bar, sunken dance floor with integrated stage for live music and star-encrusted sofa area with delicate chain drapes.

Into this sumptuous environment Absolute designed the technological infrastructure — based around a Martin Audio/QSC solution (networked via Soundweb DSP devices).

“The venue’s requirements were absolute quality and dispersion — and this goal was easily achieved thanks to the combination of products chosen,” states their senior project design manager, Chris Preston.

Absolute quoted Martin Audio because their vast range of enclosures matched all operational and design requirements. And Preston added that QSC’s CX range was selected because “it provides amazing headroom and dynamics without having to really drive the system.”

All the gain settings are stored in a pair of 9088ii Soundwebs, providing a 16 x 16 distribution matrix. This network is essential since the venue will route sound sourced from background music (the Kaleidovision KL3 hard drive), low-level sophisticated lounge jazz and live bands. A Soundweb 9010 ’Jellyfish’ (for local remote control) is provided on each floor.

Upstairs, Chris Preston has designed the sound reinforcement around four AQ8’s at the main entrance bar and a pair of AQ10’s matched with Martin Audio Blackline S15’s, providing the venue with a portable system. Towards the back eight further AQ8’s have been mounted on quick-fit, cut-down ceiling-mount brackets — giving the impression that the speakers are ‘floating’ from the amber curtain ceiling.

At lower ground floor level, a further four AQ8’s provide coverage in the lounge’s feeder bar, while an AQ10/Blackline S15 combination creates reinforcement for the tiny stage.

Finally, Preston has saved his heavy artillery for the dancefloor, ceiling mounting four AQ12’s, reinforced by a pair of groundstacked Martin Audio Wavefront W2A — which he describes as the perfect combination. Alongside, four more black AQ8’s maintain an even coverage for guests in the VIP area.

In the engine room, the installer has turned to multi-channel QSC amplification to achieve the optimum results, designing the system around seven 4-channel CX404’s, supported by a CX702, CX902 and CX1102.

“The venue was zoned in variety of reconfigurable ways, and we were able to create precise levels and EQ for each group of speakers via the Soundweb 9088ii’s and QSC amplification,” he said.

“Having the multi-channel CX404s gave us great flexibility for this purpose, all in a 2U package. We also used a number of bridged CX404’s to supply higher power to 8 ohm enclosures, ensuring consistency in amplifier types within the rack.”

The CX902 and CX1102 were employed for the ground floor dance area while the CX702 powered the live jazz/musician areas on both ground floor and basement (coupled with the bridged CX404s).

“The overall result is outstanding,” says Preston. “As for the amplifiers, they are happy to tick over in the air-conditioned room which houses the equipment rack.”

Sharing responsibility for the high-class sound is KBA design director, Gail Thomson, who took charge of the acoustic treatment, creating the suspended ‘mirrored’ acoustic panels to deflect the high frequencies and absorb the lows.

Summarised EDC director, Finlay Cran, “The Albyn is a completely unique venue and something that Aberdeen has never seen before.”