Owned and operated by the Muscogee Nation, the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa offers a range of gaming, dining and live entertainment. Among its highlights is the new Gridiron Sportsbar, the largest sports viewing bar in Oklahoma.
A/V design company Audiotek was introduced to the project by builders and fabricators i5 Design, and tasked with designing and installing a new, advanced audio and video (IPTV) system throughout the space, which also incorporates two TopGolf swing suites (golf simulators), the Locker Room banquet suite and VIP lounge.
The system needed to support a variety of content, from live sports broadcasts to special events, with high-quality audio and video. AV-over-IP services also needed to be integrated into an existing network infrastructure.
Led by project manager Chris Kmiec, working with design colleagues Ash Attwood and Darren Pavitt, this was the second casino project in quick succession that sees Audiotek working within the world of Native American gaming, having recently completed a similar installation at the Potawatomi Casino Hotel in Wisconsin. As with that project, the company sub-contracted US-based CCCP to assist with the integration.
The audio design was again critical as managing sound levels in a bustling, high-energy sports bar environment posed challenges in minimising reflections and maintaining speech intelligibility. However, Audiotek was able to satisfy all their sound reinforcement requirements from the Martin Audio portfolio.
The solution for the bar’s main space comprises 40 Martin Audio C8.1T full-range ceiling speakers and 16 SX110 subwoofers, concealed in the ceiling, to distribute the sound evenly and intelligibly around its zones. In the Locker Room – a private dining and meeting space – a pair of Martin Audio FlexPoint FP15, set left and right of a video screen, powered by a combination of Dante-enabled multichannel iKon and Linear Research DSP amplifiers – all running on a Dante backbone managed and controlled via Q-Sys.
‘We selected Martin Audio, due to a very strong worldwide relationship with the Martin Audio team and Audiotek,’ Kmiec says. ‘Our experiences with Dom Harter, Dan Orton and Brad Stephens go back 20 years, and we trust them to deliver every time. The range of Martin Audio products keeps getting better and better, and we were able to choose the perfect product for each requirement in the design – it’s a one-stop shop for everything that the size of a casino would need. In addition, the brand is strong in the States; they are easy to deal with, the products always sound good and the supply is the quickest of any supplier we’ve got.’
Conversion of the pre-existing space into a sports bar was a case of moving with the times. ‘The traditional casino buffet is no longer used, and sports betting is rapidly becoming legalised across the US,’ Kmiec says. ‘The overall solution developed by the team for this space, maximised flexibility and functionality while maintaining both the quality and value required by the client.’
‘Once again, our partnership with Audiotek has resulted in an extremely good result for the client, as well as the team on site being a pleasure to work with,’ concludes i5 Design’s Daniel Scamman.
This phase in the Casino’s evolution will position the River Spirit Casino for future development in the gaming world.
More: https://martin-audio.com
