Nexo and Quest ship to Shore
Published: ASIA
CHINA: Located at L’ Place in Central District, Shore has quickly put itself on the map as the chic international restaurant and bar in Hong Kong Island, using a Nexo and Quest installation provided by Sound Boutique.
The 950-sq-m split-level restaurant is separated by a winding staircase near the entrance and the two resultant zones of Onshore and Offshore serve seafood and prime steaks respectively. Offshore’s decor adopts wood and granite to generate a warm comfortable atmosphere, whilst the sandy walls decorated with blue-green elements and soft lightings provide an underwater theme.
At the rear of the third level is a 165-sq-m outdoor lounge terrace with large comfortable sofas for those who prefer to sip al fresco cocktails and smoke whilst bathing in a kaleidoscope of colourful light from the adjacent 80-storey ‘The Centre’. Since opening in September 2010, Shore has been bustling every night with fashionable private dinners, formal dinners, corporate entertaining, product launches, cocktail events and wine tastings.
Food and beverage director Mark Chowlevska turned to contractor LSI to conduct much of the interior design work and they in turn drafted in the services of Sound Boutique to design and supply three distinct audio systems in the restaurant, lounge and outdoor area. The sophisticated ambience in the fourth floor restaurant is completed with a simple BGM system supplied by a total of 15 Quest MC800 ceiling speakers powered by three Quest QA1004 amplifiers. A BBE DS24 processor, Samson equaliser and Furman PS-PRO E Series II power conditioner have been rack mounted with the amplifiers in a cupboard, while the source is an iPod attached to an Alesis iMultimix 9R player. The iMultiMix 9R offers mixing and playback directly from an iPod and comes with five mic / line inputs with inserts for the external processing of incoming signals. Two stereo line inputs are also included, one of which can be switched between line and iPod playback.
On the third floor below, Shore buzzes nightly from 8pm to mixes provided by resident house DJ Reflex in addition to invited international DJs. The main bar area is catered for by eight ceiling mounted Nexo PS10 speakers, which are further augmented in the low frequency department by four ceiling mounted Nexo LS600 subwoofers. Some of the PS10 speakers have been positioned vertically rather than horizontally to ensure the dispersion is diverted away from the walls. Lower SPL’s were required for the seated area at the far end of the bar and so this is served by four Nexo PS8 speakers and two LS400 subwoofers.
The DJ booth is recessed in a cave like structure, which Roger De Leon aka DJ Reflex from New York City admits makes his work a little more challenging. ‘The booth is set back and isolated and so it’s hard to gauge the feedback of the audience,’ he commented. At his disposal are two Technics SL-1210 turntables, two Pioneer CDJ2000 multi players and a Rane Sixty Eight mixer, which comes with Scratch Serato. ‘The Sixty Eight is amazing,’ he added. ‘It’s so sensitive – you can hear every little tweak. There are so many inputs and outputs on this mixer as well – I didn’t think I’d need all 24 of them, but in the end I’ve used them all.’ The Sixty Eight is fitted with two USB ports for connecting two computers and thus allowing two DJs to work in parallel or in transition from one to the other.
The DJ booth also hosts four NX Amp 4x1 amplifiers which power the 12 PS speakers and six subwoofers together with an XTA DP448 processor for loudspeaker management and the same BBE, Samson and Furman combination as installed in the restaurant. Two Quest HP8 speakers and a single HP218S subwoofer have also been installed in DJ booth for monitoring.
The outdoor terrace is catered for by eight balcony mounted Quest MS80 1 8-inch two-way speaker cabinets and four M210S dual 10-inch subwoofers, powered by four QA4004 4-channel amplifiers. Some of the exposed cabinets are protected by the heat, rain and humidity by Perspex covers. Shure wireless microphones were also supplied as part of the audio set up for presentations, performances and speeches.
Unlike the nightclubs of yesteryear, combined bar / restaurants such as Shore are becoming the norm in Hong Kong, where investors are benefitting from the varying daily clientele who patronise the establishment between the 11am – 3am opening hours. As such, the audio equipment is in operation for some sixteen hours per day and reliability and trouble free operation were key factors in the decision to install the Nexo and Quest speaker systems.