BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 2011: Two new hybrid restaurant-bars have stolen the limelight in Barcelona, Spain. Situated in the resurgent neighborhood of El Poble-sec, Tickets and 41° share the same prestigious proprietors, a roof & a wall, and a hi-fi sound system that parallels the ultra-modern, utterly-hip décor. Taken together, the sonic and visual vibe suggests the patron is savoring cuisine and quaffing libations of a promised and glorious future. Indeed, the New York Times listed Tickets as one of the “Ten Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride,” and would-be revelers at the ever-packed 41° will be turned away unless they secured a reservation in advance. Though separately zoned, the two establishments rely on a single, two-rack space Ashly pêma powered processor for all input conditioning, matrix mixing, loudspeaker conditioning, and amplification. It works tirelessly in the background, like a seasoned party planner, to make sure everybody at Tickets and 41°
has a wonderful time.
The famous proprietors of Tickets and 41°, Ferran and Albert Adrià hired local A/V powerhouse Seesound to deliver a sound system that was commensurate with the striking décor and upscale menus they planned to offer. Long established in the live and club scenes, Seesound is now a major player in the install market of Spain and the surrounding region. The building that houses Tickets and 41° is an old, classic structure on Parallel Street, a street famous for its theater district (hence the name “Tickets”). This is the first time that a restaurant or bar has been installed there.
Seesound project manager Raul Caballero designed the combined sound system for Tickets and 41°, and PMC33 Audio installed it. It is comprised of three zones, two for Tickets and one for 41°. Caballero used Seesound’s custom-built VIETA loudspeakers. Tickets has eight VIETA DO-8 and three VIETA DO-5 loudspeakers, whereas 41° has four VIETA DO-8 loudspeakers. Caballero was careful to integrate the loudspeakers into the very deliberate interior design of both establishments, custom painting the loudspeakers where necessary. Two laptop computers provide the primary inputs, and Tickets adds to that a small stage input for meetings, presentations, or small live music sets. Acoustical absorbers were added to the ceiling to create an intimate feel, while improving the presentation of music.
A single Ashly pêma 8250, with full DSP implementation and eight amplified channels of 250 watts each, provides the heart, guts, and muscle of the audio system for both establishments. “The Ashly pêma is the perfectly powerful all-in-one solution for such an installation,” said Caballero. “It delivers seamless auto-mixing on the inputs and full flexibility for EQ, delay, and dynamics. The built-in amplifier channels are built to Ashly’s exacting standards for day-after-day reliability. It is amazing that all of that functionality fits inside just two rack spaces!”
Caballero gave users control of only those aspects of the system that made sense. Each establishment has an Ashly neWR-5 Ethernet-based programmable remote control to select input source and to control the volume. To Tickets, he added an Ashly WR-1, which provides two knobs that control the volume in two separate sections of the restaurant. In place now for several months, the owners and managers have nothing but praise for the audio system Seesound built. “They are very happy,” said Caballero. “The system is simple for them to operate and it works without failing. That, coupled with its great hi-fi sound, is the recipe for success.”
ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO With over a thirty-five year history, Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in designing and manufacturing quality signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. www.ashly.com
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PHOTO CAPTION Ashley Audio’s pêma processor installed in 41Ëš – one of Barcelona’s premier restaurants-bars.
