Seebeck Audio brings d&b to Bar National Beirut
Published: MEA
LEBANON: Seebeck Audio recently provided a customised d&b audiotechnik solution for the Bar National in Beirut. Brothers Rami and Joe Keyrouz opened the venue in early 2012, yet within a few months decided that the audio system needed upgrading.
Music manager for Bar National, Gunther Sabbagh asked Seebeck Audio’s Youssef Aoun to examine the bar’s physical orientation and surrounding neighbourhood. ‘Youssef came up with a tricky but effective solution,’ said Mr Sabbagh.
‘This is a roof top bar with live DJ and music playback,’ commented Mr Aoun. ‘In the winter the bar keeps the glass walls to the balcony closed, but as soon as the warm weather arrived and they opened up, the neighbours began complaining about the noise.
‘Beyond removing the existing system I could see two immediate problems,’ he stated. ‘The only way to contain low end at moderate levels to the surrounding buildings was to keep it inside and use a proper cardioid sub that didn't spray low end all over the place. For the rest of the frequency range I used EASE to model a system design that faced backwards into the bar’s interior.’
While the DJ area was said to be straightforward, ‘a pair of MAX12s powered by a D6 proved ideal,’ explained Mr Aoun. He then selected elements from the d&b White range for main system, comprising a combination of 27A-subs and 10AL speakers from the brand’s arrayable xA-Series.
‘The 10AL is a great full frequency deliverer, and the arrays I devised had the ideal pattern control for a twin stereo solution,’ he commented. ‘Being an installer system – it is also available in a weatherproof version which is ideal for the balcony.’
A small array of 10AL was hung at the left and right against the venue’s sliding glass walls within the bar’s interior, and an identical array was mounted outside on the balcony.
‘This meant two timing settings: summer, where point zero was from the balcony system when in use, with the room system delayed to it: and winter when the inside system could be run at zero,' said Mr Aoun. ‘The room is not so big, and the distance between the balcony and the room system is just 11m, but that's no reason not to make the alignment perfect.’
‘I'm a successful business man not a sound technician, but certainly the leakage to the surrounding buildings has been greatly reduced, which has made my neighbours very happy,’ said Joe Keyrouz. ‘The sound from the main system is also contained and it sounds 10 times better than what I had before. Seebeck has done a wonderful job and Bar National is well on its way to becoming the most popular bar of this type in Beirut.’