Although only recently opened, Mandrake quickly established itself as a popular staple of the Miami Beach dining/nightlife scene. In addition to a variety of sushi and pan-Asian cuisine prepared by executive chef Jimmy Gallagher, the restaurant is known for its décor and lighting. Equally as important to the ambiance is its Martin Audio CDD sound system installed by Miami’s AVL Innovations (AVLI).
‘Mandrake has several floors and multiple rooms,’ AVLI’s James Reed explains. ‘There’s a sushi bar in the front room where we used eight Martin Audio CDD8s mounted on the wall along with four SX210 subwoofers built into the banquettes; then there’s a hallway leading to the main dining room with two CDD8s.’
The main dining room and bar features six wall-mounted CDD10s with four SX210 subwoofers also built into the seating. The programme material is essentially high-quality background music earlier in the evening, which converts to more of a nightclub atmosphere with dining and dancing later on. A patio area complete with garden is served by four CDD8-WRs and two CSX212-WR subs.
Continuing the Martin Audio CDD theme, a lounge bar area upstairs has six wall-mounted CDD-LIVE12s – four for the room and two positioned alongside the DJ booth on a small stage for monitoring, along with four CSX-LIVE118 subwoofers. There is also a DJ set-up downstairs in a corner of the main dining room that can be played through the house system or in the individual rooms.
Amplification is provided by Lab.gruppen with Biamp management, and Crestron control ties the lighting and audio system together. ‘We were also responsible for the sophisticated LED RGB lighting system that runs throughout the venue in the soffits near the ceiling and behind the bar to enhance the interior atmosphere,’ Reed says. ‘The designer, Mark Lehmkuhl, really has an eye for this stuff, he does the concepts and interiors for many of the hot spots on Miami Beach, and whenever he’s involved it comes out pretty cool looking.
‘In terms of the audio, the owners, Roman Jones and Aris Nanos, are happy with the sound system,’ Reed reports: ‘They’ve been around the nightlife world for quite a while and were very impressed with the Martin Audio system’s coverage and audio quality, both upstairs and downstairs.’
More: https://martin-audio.com
