Beirut’s Buddha Bar – which is part of an expanding global chain – features an Alcons Audio system specified by SPL-Sound Pressure Level (SPL). SPL owners Elie and Maya Louaizi had to accommodate the varying requirements of different areas in Buddha Bar when they came to select the audio system.
Large spaces without separation, high ceilings and architectural restrictions were among the issues that had to be addressed.
“The potential for the sound dissipating in the space was very real, so we had to choose speakers that were powerful enough to cope with this, but not driven so hard that they were distorting,” reflected Maya Louaizi.
The system designed and installed by SPL features 16 Alcons TS3 single 6.5in loudspeakers to cover the ground-floor restaurant, ceiling-mounted and pointing down towards the dinners. Three VR8 8in + pro-ribbon loudspeakers are mounted on wall brackets in the reception bar area, while 18 ceiling-mounted VR8 and six floor-mounted BF302 twin 15in subs cover the mezzanine. Two further VR8s are installed in the DJ booth as monitors and the whole system is powered by 10 ALC2ST amplifiers with SDP processing.
“No extra equipment or processing was needed to manage the system,” noted Elie Louaizi. “The Alcons system offered amazing simplicity – a true plug and play solution.”
Surveying the company’s overall presence in the Middle East, Alcons Audio MD Tom Back told II that “the brand awareness of Alcons in the Middle East is rapidly increasing, which is the same pattern we’re seeing worldwide. […] Due to the wide range of possible applications of Alcons pro-ribbon systems, installations realised range from clubs to churches, as well as rental companies. Buddha Bar is a good example of an application where both low SPL clarity and presence as well as non-distorting high SPL is required – and Alcons delivers.”
