{"id":784,"date":"2011-05-02T12:03:50","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T18:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/?p=784"},"modified":"2011-05-02T12:04:17","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T18:04:17","slug":"integrator-serves-up-87-restaurant-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/cisncuser\/audio-systems\/integrator-serves-up-87-restaurant-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Integrator Serves Up 87 Restaurant Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Boston\u2019s Post 390 blanketed with SpeakerCraft speakers and Crestron automation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Providing audio, video and automation for a bar and restaurant is rarely easy. It\u2019s even more difficult when the restaurateur has various and specific goals in mind.<\/p>\n

Take Post 390, for example, which is located steps from Boston\u2019s most bustling office buildings, making it an after-work cocktail location. It\u2019s also located a couple of blocks from Boston Back Bay\u2019s bar scene, making it a night-on-the-town location.<\/p>\n

But Post 390 is located a stone\u2019s throw from Boston\u2019s trendy South End restaurants, making it an up-scale eatery.<\/p>\n

In other words: Post 390 needs to be a chameleon, adjusting to the needs of various guests – and its audio, video and automation need to reflect that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our early marketing slogans was \u2018Find your Post,\u2019\u201d says Paul Dias, senior VP of operations for the Himmel Hospitality Group, which runs Post 390. \u201cWe looked at it as a place for a casual lunch, for a business lunch, a place to meet for beers, a place for a formal dinner. So every part of the restaurant had to be able to [reflect] the \u2018Find your Post\u2019 theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos: Integrator Serves Up 87 Restaurant Speakers<\/a><\/p>\n

Sound Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dias enlisted North Easton, Mass.-based Audio Video Intelligence (AVI) to design and install Post 390\u2019s electronics.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is two floors, with a bar area on each floor, and the dining rooms blend into the bars. There are two areas that can be dedicated for private parties, complete with drop-down Epson projectors and Da-Lite screens, that require separate automation and audio zones.<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge for Jim Shapiro, president of AVI, was providing seamless sound – a dilemma he describes while walking across the length of the restaurant and listening for hotspots. \u201cIn a restaurant, more speakers are generally better. If there are too few, the system has to play louder and that\u2019s when people get upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, AVI installed 87 SpeakerCraft speakers and subwoofers, mostly in-ceiling, in the 12,000-square-foot space.<\/p>\n

AVI\u2019s design called for even more speakers. \u201cYeah,\u201d Dias recalls. \u201cYou [as a restaurant integration client] really have to come to terms with the number of speakers. You have to compromise. You only have as much money as you have to spend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Automation Made Easy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of money, Post 390 didn\u2019t skimp when it came to automation. Post 390 staff use Crestron automation to control audio, video, motorized screens, lighting and climate. It\u2019s always a challenge anytime various employees need to interact with a control system, so Dias wanted it to be as simple as possible.<\/p>\n

During the design phase, Shapiro sent Dias screen captures of the customized Crestron interfaces AVI programmed for Post 390. He liked what he saw.<\/p>\n

Dias, whose Himmel Hospitality Group runs other prominent Boston and Cambridge restaurants, has been burned before by difficult-to-use automation systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul knew he needed reliability and it needed to be simple to control,\u201d says Shapiro. \u201cHe had experiences with systems that aren\u2019t as powerful and fast for switching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post 390 demonstrates extreme confidence in its Crestron automation system by including in-wall touchscreens in the two private dining areas. Nothing is stopping a customer in one of those rooms to select music, turn down volume or even lower the projector and screen – although it\u2019s obviously not encouraged.<\/p>\n

The private rooms are only private when Post 390 designates it so. The larger of the rooms includes a large glass door that can be opened when that room is simply used for dining space and closed when privacy is needed.<\/p>\n

The audio zones need to reflect the rooms\u2019 usage and Post 390 staff uses Crestron audio switching via touchscreen to change on the fly.<\/p>\n

Staff training was a snap, Shapiro recalls. He remembers being on-site for a soft opening and waiting for employees to ask questions about how to use the automation system but hardly getting any. For him, that\u2019s a measure of success.<\/p>\n

For Dias, he measures success by reflecting back on his initial goals. \u201cWe were trying to create a certain kind of environment here and we wanted a sound system that would help us do that. And we wanted consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking through the restaurant, Dias says his goals were met. Then he adds, \u201cSee? No dead spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0by Tom LeBlanc<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.commercialintegrator.com\/article\/integrator_serves_up_87_restaurant_speakers?utm_source=ci&utm_medium=topic<\/a><\/p>\n

Custom Installation Services, LLC <\/a>– Charlotte, NC’s Source For Restaurant and Sports Bar Audio\/Video Sales, Service and Installation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston\u2019s Post 390 blanketed with SpeakerCraft speakers and Crestron automation. Providing audio, video and automation for a bar and restaurant is rarely easy. It\u2019s even more difficult when the restaurateur has various and specific goals in mind. Take Post 390, for example, which is located steps from Boston\u2019s most bustling office buildings, making it an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,72,37,919,18,700,709,885,15],"tags":[534,129,358,724,731,979,538,981,426,427,980,354,517,337,453,58,474,982,144],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":791,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions\/791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cis-nc.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}