Part of Exeter’s £12m Queen St Dining regeneration project, The Terrace is the brainchild of directors Joe Hill and Steve Keogh, who own the successful Artigiano coffee chain. A sophisticated rooftop bar/restaurant concept, the venue is fitted out Martin Audio’s new CDD and CDD-WR loudspeaker series courtesy of Old Barn Audio (OBA).
Situated in the city’s Guildhall Shopping Centre, the venue’s owners had been looking to diversify into a high-class all-day and late night operation over three floors, including a rooftop bar at the top. Knowing they also wanted to present live music and world-class DJs as part of the entertainment mix, they sought both a credible brand and a high end audio installer to fulfil these requirements.
‘We recommended Martin Audio’s CDD series, and after checking all credentials, the client chose us over the brands submitted by the other companies,’ says OBA Director, Phil Clark. He adds that the operators had ‘thoroughly done their homework’, sensing the brand’s reputation in London’s leading nightclubs. ‘In addition, their DJs also recommended Martin Audio, which pushed the decision further in our favour.’
Combining engineering innovation in the form of unique Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology within a series of distinctive curved enclosures, the CDD series was a logical choice, as it has taken the market by storm since its launch last year.
At ground floor level, the entrance/cloakroom is served by a pair of CDD5 speakers. The main action is contained on the next floor among the bling and New York loft style environment. Here six CDD10 speakers take the general background music day time feeds while the main dance floor is equipped with four powerful CDD12, two recessed CSX212 subs and a CDD10 for DJ monitoring. The upstairs fine-dining area is equipped with a further four CDD10 speakers to offer background music or higher-level DJ music, routed from the floor below, if desired. And finally, for the upstairs roof deck, four CDD5-WR (weatherised) enclosures have been specified.
The system is driven by Powersoft M-series amplifiers and routed via Symetrix Radius DSP, with custom designed touch screen control for the 18 LED moving heads (programmed in many different states).
The provision of five stereo plug-in points provides versatility for incoming iPods – and when The Terrace wishes to present live music upstairs – such as acoustic duos – the band inputs will cut the sound automatically from the rear and turn the sound rig into a conventional a LR front-facing PA. All the technology has been placed on an enclosed wi-fi network while the Symetrix also interfaces with the fire alarm system.
This elegant installation, with its intuitive, user-friendly topology, is the latest of many CDD installs carried out by OBA – and Clark also hopes the first of many they will be undertaking for The Terrace owners as they roll out the brand. ‘With a dedicated ents team they want to attract the top DJs – and they love the clarity and power of CDD,’ he concludes.
The Terrace occupies a total of 9,000-sq-ft in this restaurant-dominated building, which is owned by Aviva Investors, and trades with a 2am licence.
