Ceiling speakers

One of the most common questions we get asked by designers is:

"Can we have those small Bose cubes on the side walls of our new restaurant/bar?"

And unfortunately our answer is normally NO!

·        Bose will be the first people to tell you that these are NOT a commercial product and should not be installed in a commercial environment

·        Secondly designers normally choose these are they are discrete - but when you install small speakers such as these you always need to have a complimentary larger cabinet to fill in the bass and low frequencies that these cabinets cannot reproduce.

·        And most importantly mounting speakers around the outside of a venue is not always the best solution and can lead to an uneven sound field within a venue.

What do we need in a good restaurant?
When a guest dines in your restaurant they all receive the same quality of service, they have the same menu, linen, drinks offer, etc
So your sound system should be delivering to ALL your customers the same sound levels, ambience and atmosphere.

What is the best way to do this?
In a simple venue this even sound field is most evenly achieved by using a grid of ceiling speakers.
If you think about it a person walking through a room will always have their ear a constant. Distance from the ceiling, so if the speakers are placed correctly they will have a consistent sound level all the way throughout the room.
Unfortunately if we where to have used the wall mounted solution the same customer will find that the sound is louder near the walls and the sound will be lower in the middle of the room and then get louder again when he/she approaches the perimeter of the room
CGA use a ceiling speaker distribution calculator to match the height of the ceiling, the size of the room and the specification of the speakers to create an even sound field

We can apply this formula to most rooms and the current generation of ceiling speakers have white grills for white ceilings and as they are outside of our normal field of vision they disappear very quickly.

CGA Integration have used this formula in a wide range of venues, following are some of the CGA installations that use ceiling speakers to fulfil our clients requirements:
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_tamarind.htm
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_ducasse.htm
http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/case_chinatang.htm

What if I have not got a flat ceiling?
We can apply this principal to ceilings with exposed beams or even open up to the apex.
In Spains hall in Essex CGA used the ceiling beams to create a virtual ceiling and mounted speakers on this level to create an even sound field across the main dining room.
At Great Fosters in Egham CGA used the apex of the ceiling to mount the speakers - putting all listeners in the far field of the speakers, but also ensuring that all customers are a consistent distance from the speakers creating an even sound field at the listening positions - I.e. At the tables

Obviously every room if differentand each customer requires a different exeperience for their clients. CGA Integration pride ourselves on understanding customer needs to try and apply the corrcet solution in every application. Please see subscribe/Follow this blog to see different ways we solve problems for our customers.

Best regards
CGA Integration