Newly Opened Coppers Craft Bar & Grill Stuns with Optimal Audio Solution

Paying homage to South Africa’s diverse craft beer legacy, Coppers Craft Bar & Grill at Bel Air Shopping Centre recently opened their doors to craft beer and gin enthusiasts, offering an unforgettable experience that seamlessly weaves together the art of brewing and distilling with the rich tapestry of South African culture. The entire venue was fitted out with an incredible Optimal Audio Loudspeaker & Control System fitted and supplied by Lynx Solutions.

The space is fitted with 24 Optimal Audio Cuboid 5TXs. These two-way, full range, passive, 5” loudspeakers appear small but with a max SPL of 105dB (continuous) and 111dB (peak) with 130° horizontal x 120° vertical coverage they pack a meaty punch. A weatherproof terminal cover is available, upping the rating to IP54 making it suitable for outdoor use. Having 24 loudspeakers spread across the Main Area, Balcony and the VIP area offers great coverage and clarity across the entire venue.

To complement the speakers, 3 Optimal Audio Sub 10s were installed for bass reinforcement. 2 are positioned in the Main Area with one adding some warmth to the VIP Area. The Sub 10 is a passive 10” subwoofer designed for applications that call for increased impact and low frequency performance from the smaller Optimal Audio loudspeaker range, so it is the ideal partner for the Cuboid 5TX. It features a 10” (250mm) driver with a generously sized low frequency port for reduced air noise with a peak SPL of around 127dB.

For control, the Optimal Audio Zone 8 controller offers up a world of possibilities with full custom control of each zone using the WebApp. The 8-zone audio controller features 4 stereo line inputs and 2 mic inputs with 48V Phantom Power plus 2 HDMI inputs for TV and video sound. With the built-in DSP and controlling WebApp, system programmers can independently build and allocate sources across 8 configurable zones into a customisable user interface. David Tripa had the following to say about Optimal Audio “I was tasked with creating a solution that was both cost-effective as well as practical to use. OA was the perfect choice as it’s very easy to use, set up, and budget-friendly. The punchy rich high fidelity sound that this small loudspeaker packs within is truly remarkable. The management team is very happy with the end product as it’s fully automated, with no user intervention required as everything is programmed to run according to strict routines and presets, which is great because it leaves the restaurant with a consistent all-round customer experience.” For this installation, the Zone 8 controlled all the different zones in the restaurant, including the ability to connect to the DJ booth, and feed audio through to all the speakers, it also gave them the ability to route DSTV, making it possible to stream all the Arsenal games.

The WebApp is the secret sauce of this installation, Optimal Audio’s signature software provides visualisations of the entire system.  Complete configuration can be built to achieve refined sound in every room. With the ability to control each assigned zone in the venue, you can control which sources are playing where, at what time and at what level.  Additional features include ducking, limiters, metering, microphone volume, advanced signal routing, bridge mode for low impedance and 70V high impedance speakers, programmable presets, even down to timed events and daily reset routines that return the system to its original configuration ready for the next day! It truly is the secret sauce.

For amplification from the Zone 8 Controller, two Wharfedale Professional DP-4035 amplifiers were equipped to the rack. Built for installation work, these fantastic 1U amplifiers drive 4-channels of power delivering up to 4 x 1010W down to 2 Ohms or 2 x 2020W in a 4 Ohm Bridge with a full set of protection circuits which include Over and Under Load Control, Thermal, DC and Temperature Power Control.

The team at Coppers Craft Bar & Grill all received training on the system with everything programmed and configured for their staff so that every corner has great audio coverage and clarity. Special thanks to Lynx Solutions.