Restaurant or Bar best speaker amp combos?

[oldbrowndog]

Hi All, i have an abiding interest in all things Altec & horn loaded, I currently run an Altec A7 system with some Altec 1569 mono blocks in my studio.. And at home a Mcintosh 240 with some TAD exclusive 2301 speakers..

Anyway Im no expert, but a friend of mine has a bar/restaurant and asked me to recommend a system for him that will allow the clientele to enjoy the music and also look sexy.
I immediately thought (since the room has 4m ceiling height & is about 8x5m in width/depth) that he may need to treat the room by hanging some diffusers, etc etc.
But I also thought well we just gotta get perhaps 4 mid size altec speakers..and a decent marantz 70's solid state amp.. Put the speakers in each corner of the room and hey presto.. see im no expert.

Just wanted to know if anyone had thoughts, and could recommend either model numbers of gear & / or sites i can check out that may have info about the best way to fitout a place with some tasty old gear.. I see it done in Japan regularly with similar gear to what im using.. but well yeah, just some advice on a fitout please!

thanks

[Robh3606]

Hello

JMHO but for music in a restaurant I would go with an overhead distributed system where you have much better control over music SPL so it stays in the background. I for one stay away from speakers when I am dinning for conversational purposes. If you want to add a separate set-up so you have both that's fine but just remember that the close tables will be talking over the music and the far tables will loose the music in the noise. If the separate system doesn't work you still have the overall distributed system.

Know any friends who play and have portable PA's?? If you do you might want to try it out with a speaker in each corner to see how it goes.

Culturally there is a difference. In the Japanese clubs many are listening to the music where us yanks will just talk over it. Any doubt on that go to a live show where many are just out right rude and disrespectful to the performers. In Australia it might be different for you.

Good luck on this and I hope you find a balance that works. As far as speakers the 4343/44 are very popular in Japan but expensive 4333 in corners would be nice but again expensive. 4 A7's hung horns down would be cool assuming you want vintage. So you plan on hanging them?? They also look cool as hell.

Rob

[oldbrowndog]

THanks Rob, yes another bar i was in in Tokyo had these small speakers hanging all over the place from the ceiling (like lights).. I assume they had a 4-6" cone and a tiny tweeter on each one.. and then probably a sub somewhere else in the room. I considered this as an idea for creating an even distribution of sound about the room.. But that would be a custom job and definitely not the vintage JBL or Altec vibe i was hoping for.. (though you could do it in tandem with a vintage altec setup i suppose).

Im definitely thinking a mid size speaker as opposed to the size of A7's in each corner.. any mid size Altec/JBL models with horn come to mind?

[Robh3606]

Could you get your hands on say 4 4412's or 4425's as an idea. Not sure if they will cover the area. We used to have a large chain record store that used 4412's and they sounded quite nice. Not that familiar with the smaller Altecs. These 2 are not really old school vintage but they may work. Here is a link to the Library to browse.

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/...o-speakers.htm

Rob

[oldbrowndog]

Great thanks a bunch Rob, good link there for some searching........