A new venue-wide sound reinforcement system at the King’s Head, a pub in the village of Bwlchgwy in North Wales, incorporates a range of components from Optimal Audio in supporting events that include live performances, karaoke, quiz nights and more.
The system was designed and installed by integration firm Pivotal Sound & Lighting of Wrexham (North Wales), with the company’s director, Darren Hughes, explaining, “The existing system comprised a number of loudspeakers driven by a home cinema amplifier which was running as a single zone, including in the outside area. Given the range of events that the pub hosts, a zoned system was essential. This would allow for example, a ‘loud zone’ around the bar area, a ‘quieter zone’ in the snug, or perhaps keep the outside area audio-free during karaoke or DJ sets. They also wanted the facility to input audio from their TV screens. Ultimately, it was about having better quality audio and better control.”
Hughes based the design on an Zone 8 controller offering internal DSP, HDMI in/through (for the local TV input) and WebApp for operation on staff members’ phones. “I chose the Optimal Audio Zone 8 controller straight away, but to be honest I’d looked at using another speaker brand we regularly use for this kind of job,” he says. “As it turned out, there was an availability problem with those, so I went back to [distributor] Audio-Technica and they suggested Optimal Audio speakers which came in right on budget. Now I’ve used them, they will definitely be my commercial install speaker of choice moving forward.”
From there, Pivotal installed two Cuboid 3, four Cuboid 5 and three Cuboid 8 two-way, full-range loudspeakers (3-, 5- and 8-inch, respectively) joined by a single Sub 10 low-profile subwoofer to deliver coverage both indoors and an outside covered area.
“The system sounds great and actually surpassed my expectations,” Hughes concludes. “Optimal Audio will definitely be my first thought when it comes to installations of this kind!”
