Grace is a national Chinese chain of bar/restaurants, which feature high quality food, drink and live music to entertain diners. The latest venue is in Yangjiang city, Guangdong province, where an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system has overcome architectural challenges to serve up an appetizing audio menu.
Grace in Yangjiang has a 400m2 main area and a 100m2 mezzanine, with internal architecture that created significant acoustic challenges. Its classical Chinese style features a tiled roof decoration with varying heights, producing multiple reflections. Additionally, a tall decorative column was likely to cause issues with sound coverage from one side of the stage.
The live performances feature vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums and have a wide dynamic range. Guangzhou-based EAD was asked to design and install a sound reinforcement system that would make sure diners throughout the venue enjoyed high quality sound. The company chose an Alcons Audio pro-ribbon solution, which they knew would 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 Xiong, who says he is very pleased at how the RR12 and VR8 connect smoothly between the low and high frequencies. Grace operations manager Chen adds, “The Alcons pro-ribbon loudspeakers are amazing. 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.”
