d&b provides a sparkling solution for Piraña.
Setting the scene
Piraña, a new, luxury dining destination in London’s exclusive Mayfair, is one of the latest additions to the very cream of the city’s dynamic restaurant scene. Based around an exceptional Peruvian-Japanese fusion menu, it has impeccable tastes in every sense. And of course, for a hospitality venue with the highest standards in everything from menu to décor, and from service to entertainment, getting the sound system right is absolutely vital.
Operators at this level know well that the importance of sound cannot be overestimated. What their customers hear – and how they hear it – plays a hugely influential role in their overall experience of a venue. Consequently, sound system design and performance is taken especially seriously. Piraña’s owner, Strongarm Hospitality, already owns two sumptuous, exclusive London destinations – Reign and Tabu – so is more than familiar with the requirements of high-end hospitality hotspots.
Scott Chester, Strongarm’s co-founder and operations director, says, “The quality of sound in Piraña had to be at the highest level to meet our expectations. It has to be warm and enjoyable, regardless of the decibel level at which it’s being played.”
Piraña is more than just another restaurant with great background music. It demands range, versatility and power from its sound. During the course of an evening, customers are transported from a relaxed dining ambience to a livelier, party atmosphere with bottle service. Sound levels increase accordingly, plus there are what Chester calls “bursts of energy” to encourage clients to start singing and celebrating in style.
But performance is not all: environments like this also impose strict aesthetic conditions. As a luxury restaurant first and foremost, Piraña had to have compact and discreet speakers, minimal hardware which would blend unobtrusively with the exquisite interior design, keeping the visual experience as seamless and comfortable as possible.
Cue specialist installer Middlesex Sound & Lighting (MSL), a company well-versed in the audio and visual demands of this stratospheric hospitality standard, and a long-standing partner of d&b audiotechnik. MSL’s project manager Toby Jones says, “Our goal is always to deliver the best audio experience for our clients. d&b is known for its exceptional quality, so it was an obvious choice.”
Led by Jones, the MSL team came up with a design to meet all Piraña’s varied requirements. Throughout this, they were able to draw on the support of the advanced tools and resources available from d&b. The manufacturer was able to provide MSL with a full review and confirmation of the system design in advance of installation.
d&b’s Adam Broom says, “MSL asked us to review the design, so they could give reassurance to the client that such a compact system was able to deliver enough impact for the lively party atmosphere that they were after. Using ArrayCalc to predict coverage and HeadroomCalc to predict the performance of the system for specific genres of music, we were able to confidently confirm that the system would do what it was designed to do.”
HeadroomCalc, the recently introduced addition to d&b’s ArrayCalc simulation software, is a patent pending and advanced time-domain (calculation) model. It predicts the reaction of a d&b system to specific audio signals, providing a more precise SPL calculation. It gives users the added benefit of even more realistic simulation results.
Furthermore, when it came to commissioning of the system, d&b also provided on-site assistance to MSL, helping to ensure optimal performance of the final system for the client.
The Solution
The design sees Piraña’s multiple zones covered by units from d&b’s installation-specific xS Series: the compact, point source 5S loudspeakers, plus low-frequency reinforcement from the ultra-compact, Bi8 subwoofer. “The subs are strategically placed under the fixed seating to remain nearly invisible,” says Jones. Stage sound was boosted with 8S speakers and 12S subwoofers.
Jones continues, “This configuration creates a consistent, immersive sound experience for guests, regardless of their seating location. The system is designed to deliver high-quality sound at low volumes while providing ample headroom for higher levels when necessary.”
Amplification is via d&b’s 5D 4-channel amplifiers, while all input processing and zoning is done via a BSS Soundweb London audio processor with iPad control and several localised wall audio controllers.
Summing up the process, Jones says, “d&b offers an exceptional sound experience, perfectly suited for upscale hospitality venues like Piraña. The speakers deliver clear audio plus a sleek, compact design that integrates seamlessly with the décor. Their advanced technology ensures consistent sound quality throughout the venue, enhancing the guest experience without overwhelming the ambiance.”
And for the client, the result is a sound win. “We’re very happy with the outcome of our d&b sound system,” says Chester. “We’ve had many compliments from clients . . . the system is powerful, discreet, well balanced, warm and impressive when the time is right.”
