The IIona restaurant in Tampere, Finland, is part of a restaurant chain renowned for its multifunctionality, with each room each serving-up a bar, karaoke, a live stage room, a quiet room and the restaurant. d&b audiotechnik’s White Range loudspeaker reinforcement system has been employed at the venue which only opened in 2011.
Owned by Finnish management group Restamax, which has over 50 locations nationally, the new IIona chain of restaurants are kitted-out to provide groups and new bands the opportunity to be heard infront of industry professionals, who attend due to the quality of sound these venues offer.
msonic, the d&b distributor for Finland, was tasked with the design of a sound reinforcement system that met requirements of the entertainment restaurant. The initial system featured d&b E-Series loudspeakers: the E0, E6 and E8 with J-SUBs. This was chosen due to the ceiling height of each room (3.5m) and the need for a degree of acoustic isolation between each sepaerate space.
However, during the project, d&b audiotechnik launched the White range of speakers. After cobnsideration, this system, which was attractive to the Restmax interior designers, was seen as a more suitable choice.
Tero Hölttä from msonic designed the new system, instead employing 5S lightweight two-way passive loudspeakers, 8S full-range two-way loudspeaker in a bass-reflex enclosure and the 10S, along with the 12Arrayable powered loudspeaker.
The Application Support department signed off on Hölttä’s design. A few weeks later integration of the new sound reinforcement system was up and running, with manager of installation company Restasähkö, Jesse Tikkala, leading the team.
He commented: “I have the technical contract for all the Restamax venues and had heard rented in d&b Q-Series systems being used at several of their night clubs. I was impressed by the clean lines of the White rangep; even more so when they were turned on and performed just as well as what I’d been used to hearing from their more mobile oriented cousins from the Black range.”
Perttu Pesonen, manager of the Ilona restaurant, finished: “Tero and msonic redesigned quickly and efficiently, the fact they could do so with a new and at that stage unheard product is a testament to their skill and the consistency of the d&b product line. But don’t just ask me; since we opened I have had many positivecomments from sound engineers coming here with bands to perform. If they have PA gear with them they are happy to leave it in the truck when they come to Ilona.”
