Subscribe
Installed Audio

Martin Audio powers Rock & Brews classic rock diner

The latest roll-out of the Rock & Brews American bar/diner concept, specialising in classic rock, has opened at the Potawatomi Casino Hotel - a gaming and entertainment destination in Carter, northern Wisconsin. This follows the concept’s reported success at the nearby Casino Hotel, Milwaukee, where the Potawatomi Tribe first embraced the concept in the year prior.

Both operations feature a heavy deployment of Martin Audio products, installed by Green Bay-based partner, CCCP (Camera Corner). At both sites, they were subcontracted to carry out the installation by principal contractors, Audiotek, who supplied the visual media.

CCCP has a long-standing relationship as AV provider to the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe. CCCP project designer, Scott Tomashek, said the client had been keen to maintain consistency with Martin Audio having been impressed with its performance in Milwaukee, where it had been specified by Audiotek. Impressed by the Rock & Brews concept there, the operators decided to convert the restaurant at their Carter site.

“We were pleased to see that a lot of Martin Audio equipment had already been specified by Audiotek, as we have been partners with them for a number of years. Everyone was happy to be working again with a brand with which we were already familiar, and trusted,” said Tomashek.

At Potawatomi Casino Hotel Carter, CCCP once again worked closely with architects, I-5 Design. But faced with a smaller 3,000sq. ft. footprint than Milwaukee, with a reduced stage and restricted ceiling height, a change of approach was required. CCCP turned to an alternative flown system other than TORUS, which had served them so well in Milwaukee.

“FlexPoint became the obvious solution, and it worked out really well,” Tomashek explained. The primary system is the largest FP15 - a single box flown left and right with the two subs set adjacent in the centre. “This is a relatively compact box that still has plenty of output. And because we had to fly subs directly in front of the stage area, the ability to use the SXC115 cardioid versions meant we could keep some of that low-frequency energy off the stage area,” he explained.

FlexPoint became the obvious solution, and it worked out really well.

A pair of FP8s are located on either side of the two large Taylor video walls. Five additional FP6s and the final pair of FP8s point out from the Rock & Brews restaurant into the main casino area on a delay ring, to attract customers in. “The coverage is excellent,” the installer confirmed.

The entire setup is powered by Martin Audio iKON DSP amplifiers; a pair of iK42s are assigned to the main FP15 rig, the SXC115 sub and FP6 fills, while an iK81 powers all six FP8s, one per channel.

Bands can plug into a digital console, and a wireless mic audio system can be set up for announcements or special events. However, the venue essentially operates a strident, video-accompanied ‘classic rock’ playlist. “This is why we needed the kind of energy generated by the FP15,” Tomashek said.

Signal transport is on a Dante backbone sent from the primary DSP core, to the Dante-capable Martin Audio iKON amplifiers and the entire system is under master Crestron control. As an alternative to running music content, sports events or TV channels can be fed from the hotel hub.

To have a product I can set up really quickly and get really good results from, is vital.

The FP15 had reportedly made its mark at the Milwaukee operation, notably in the ‘Sportsbook’ venue, where Audiotek provided a massive 116ft x 18ft LED screen for sports betting. Elsewhere in the casino, further Martin Audio speakers include CDD, Blackline and TORUS.

For both projects, Martin Audio’s DISPLAY3 optimisation software was used. Tomashek stated, “FlexPoint has been so easy to set up and tune, and the presets are really good in the [iKON] amplifiers. That really helps to maximise our time, which is extremely important as the AV team is always the last in when timelines and deadlines are getting very compressed. To have a product I can set up really quickly and get really good results from, is vital.”

DISPLAY’s compatibility with SketchUp provided a further boost. “It’s been great to get SketchUp models of these rooms directly from the architect so we could drop the speakers right into that design and know they were going to work the way we needed,” Tomashek continued.

Finally, Tomashek, who co-commissioned the system with the Crestron programmer, praised Martin Audio’s Martha Callaghan for her support. “Relationship is important to us, and we want to work with companies that value the relationship as much as we do, and that’s certainly something that we’ve found with Martin Audio,” he concluded.