Continuing their long relationship with the Mean Fiddler Group, sound specialists Encore were asked to specify an audio playback system for the leisure group’s latest Central London development, eponymously dedicated to the Irish celebrity chef, Conrad Gallagher. Owned by Vince Power’s company, the luxurious 170-seat Conrad Gallagher restaurant opened last month at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West End, serving modern Irish food, with a bar/lounge situated above. It is open seven days a week. Some 30 Sound Advance CT10 recessed ceiling speakers, purchased from their exclusive UK distributors, Sound Department, have been fitted on each floor, including the toilets and the private dining room.

Encore’s Mick Martin explained: "We have worked extensively for the Mean Fiddler Group over the years - and we have also fitted CT10s into a number of other high profile restaurants, including Oliver Peyton’s Mash. The requirements at Conrad Gallagher were to deliver an evenly-distributed sound system across the entire restaurant, and we chose Sound Advance firstly because architects and designers love the fact that they can be painted to complement the decor (in this case blue), secondly because we can gain an even 180° dispersion, and thirdly because they sound good."

The CT10s are also ideal when ceiling height is restricted, as was the case here. This provides the reinforcement end of a system which has been split into four sound zones, each with their own independent sound sources, which are fed from five-disk CD players racked in the amp room. These are linked to Cloud CX6 six-channel amplifiers (two speakers per channel) so that each area can be tuned and volume controlled independently.Source select is controlled from the amp room and routed to the four zones via a Cloud Z8 zoning mixer."There are many ceiling speakers on the market but most of them are ugly," believes Mick Martin. "We have been using Sound Advance speakers for years. They are easy to mount and clip easily into a Torsion Mount Support Bridge cut into the ceiling."

Elegant and spacious, the restaurant is decorated in rich chocolate browns, with a sepia photographic mural featuring abstract culinary images on panels around the walls, with stylish brown leather chairs and imaginative lighting. The glass-fronted lounge on the ground floor is similarly decorated and seats 100 people.


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