Country and leisure park operators, Park Leisure, recently undertook a £2m upgrade to its Amble Links ‘owners-only’ holiday park on the Northumberland coast, which incorporated a Martin Audio AQ fit-out of several areas at the facility.
AV integrators, Promotiontime NE, carried out the technology design and systems integration of its main entertainment area, The Links Owners Only Bar & Entertainment Lounge, as well as the refurbished Old Storehouse restaurant/bar.
The entertainment lounge’s stage system needed to reinforce small acts, as well as a resident DJ and karaoke, but also needed to be used for larger performances when required. After sampling the AQ series Promotiontime NE specified a pair of AQ28 loudspeakers, with dual 8in drivers, one each side of the stage, as the main front-facing PA with an AQ10 loudspeaker on each wing providing outfills. Recessed into the stage on each side is an AQ215 (2 x 15) bass enclosure and Promotiontime NE have incorporated a 42-way patch so that incoming productions carrying their own mixing console can plug straight in and override the house desk.
The Old Storehouse is divided into two areas — a restaurant and bar, with background music fed to eight AQ6 two-way passive loudspeakers in the main restaurant, with its colour changing walls, and a pair of AQ5 ultra compact loudspeakers in the overspill/annex area, while the dedicated bar area is served by a further combination of AQ8, AQ6 and a pair of AQ112 (1 x 12in) subwoofers.
The music extends to the outside patio area where Brian Graham has specified four Martin Audio C115 surface -mount weather-resistant speakers — designed with the same elegance as the AQ range.
The entire system is powered by Martin Audio MA5.2K, MA4.8Q and MA2.8Q amplifiers and fed by a 16×16 audio routing matrix, which allows any sound source to be switched to any zone via the Martin Audio Engineer 818 DSP. Limiting and EQ settings are also stored in the Engineer, with inputs recalled and switched between the different operating modes via the Control4 audio and lighting environmental control platform (linked to Mode dimming packs for the lighting).
The site is configured so that all audio and vision can be switched and controlled from two touch screens, one located in the main bar and the other in the performance area, to allow intuitive use throughout the complex.
