Sonora Grill Prime, located in the Artz Pedregal mall in Mexico City, required an audio system offering appropriate coverage while blending discreetly with its interior design, with AV integration company Plánica deciding to meet these requirements with EdgeMax loudspeakers from Bose Professional.
The loudspeakers are joined by Bose MB210 compact subwoofers, a ControlSpace ESP-880A sound processor, and a couple of PowerMatch PM8500 amplifiers as key elements. Plánica has designed and integrated the AV systems for over 30 restaurants for the Sonora Grill Group using products from Bose in the past nine years.
According to Gustavo Bruce, engineering manager at Plánica, “As always, the Sonora Grill experience includes good music and great audio quality. But now the architects asked for the loudspeaker placement to be as discreet as possible, with the challenge of maintaining the power, sound clarity and coverage that guests are expecting from the place.”
The Artz Pedregal location, which opened in mid-2019, is spacious with big halls and dozens of tables, a bar area and a private room. The décor includes brick walls, huge windows, box planters, and a wooden structure ceiling. Among all of these elements, Plánica placed 13 Bose EdgeMax EM180 loudspeakers and five MB210 compact subwoofers to accomplish the task.
“Because of the sound dispersion of the EdgeMax loudspeakers, it;s difficult to know where the sound is coming from, so it feels as if it is part of the place, and this contributes to creating a seamless experience,” adds Bruce. “The volume difference from one spot to another is barely noticeable, whether you’re below a speaker or 20 feet away from it. There is no need to turn the music way up, so people feel comfortable and can have a conversation without shouting.”
Plánica had all the necessary information, including the architectural blueprints and the list of materials, to utilize Bose Modeler software to help predict the sound system’s performance. “From the projections we got, it was easy to decide on the right loudspeakers and their placement. Besides, we have learned a lot from previous experiences and the possibilities that elements such as box planters bring along, as they are great to ‘hide’ the subwoofers,” says Bruce.
In the private room that is used for work meetings or private celebrations, Planica installed a flat-panel video screen, FreeSpace loudspeakers, and a ControlSpace CC-16 control center to make the control display accessible for all system operators. Also, as in the rest of the group’s restaurants, Sonora Grill Prime in Artz Pedregal has a DJ booth that is active every night. The cabin is equipped with a versatile Bose Portable S1 Pro compact loudspeaker as a monitor for the DJ.
