A full APG audio system is providing the soundtrack for a new hybrid shop and hospitality space by French motorcycling, automotive, surfing and fashion brand Morex Custom.
Located on the outskirts of Rennes, the 450m² Morex Custom House includes a bar/restaurant and concept store designed to showcase the best Morex Custom has to offer. Customised motorcycles and cars take pride of place in both the bar area and the boutique shop, where customers can also pick up apparel, accessories, motorbike helmets and custom-made surfboards.
Given the brand’s association with the roar of the road and sea, it was crucial that the new venue had had a powerful yet versatile sound system, according to Kévin Morel, co-founder of Morex Custom. “The sound environment in a venue like ours is very important – our customers need to feel the music and enjoy it,” he explained. “The acoustics for the shopping experience of the customer is very important.”
To realise this vision, local systems integrators I.S.A. (Ingénierie Scénique et Audiovisuelle) (its parent company, Groupe Sonowest, is a long-term partner of APG) specified an all-APG install speaker set-up featuring compact coaxial loudspeakers from the French manufacturer’s new iX series, as well as its SB115-M2 compact subwoofer.
The advantages of this system, which includes both iX6 (6.5in driver) and iX8 (8in driver) models, are manifold, according to Mathias Collin, works supervisor for I.S.A., who praises the APG speakers’ “ease of integration, high efficiency, small size, and simple yet effective visual appeal.”
For Morex Custom, it was essential that the speaker system be able to handle a range of applications – a key strength of the iX range, which is as at home in a large entertainment venue or convention centre as it is in a club, bar or restaurant. “The important thing for us was to have a powerful but pleasant sound, so that our clients can talk without shouting,” continued Morel, who added that the sound system also needed to offer “sufficient power to accommodate more festive occasions and DJ sessions”.
The client’s specifications also included audio zoning with independent level management, which was accomplished using Powersoft’s ArmoníaPlus software. The user can manage the zones, including the volume of each area, using a wireless touchscreen interface connected to a Yamaha MTX digital matrix.
I.S.A. also turned to Powersoft for the amplifiers used in the installation: one eight-channel Ottocanali 4K4 DSP+D and one two-channel Duecanali 804 DSP+D. Both came recommended by APG, which has developed specific amplifier presets for its loudspeakers.
Morex Custom House opened last autumn, and the team have already had “very good customer feedback on the audio” according to Morel, both “during the daily rush hour as well as big events.”
Morex Custom is similarly impressed with the installation – so much so that the company is already looking at how it can extend the audio system outdoors, where a tree-lined garden terrace is set to become a must-visit outside space as the warmer weather approaches: “The client is very happy with the sound inside the bar, and are looking at re-fitting the outside of the Morex House with APG speakers to have an equal and constant sound quality everywhere,” concluded Mathias.
APG’s sales engineer Alexis Reymond said: “The customer experience in retail and hospitality has become paramount over the past couple of years, with stores like Morex Custom House serving as experiential destinations that go above and beyond the traditional retail environment. With high-quality drivers and innovative No Diffraction Baffle (NDB) technology providing superior sound in a compact footprint, our iX Series speakers are perfectly suited to these kind of premium-quality, next-generation retail destinations.”
