Located in the heart of Instanbul, M Gallery Taksim is a five-star hotel with an exclusive restaurant and bar, along with a Spa and fitness center. Recently the hotel was purchased by the M Gallery group and underwent a complete renovation that included the installation of One Systems Inc. sound reinforcement systems for the lobby, restaurant, terrace, bar and fitness center.
The hotel management tapped AKHAN-TT Produksiyon Ses Isık Goruntu,, a prominent sound company also located in Instanbul, to design and install the new systems. Faik Haluk Akgun, owner of AKHAN-TT Produksiyon Ses Isık Goruntu, relied upon One Systems Inc. loudspeakers when creating discrete, high quality, sound reinforcement systems to meet the hotels highest standards of excellence.
“This was a very prestigious project, as M Gallery hotels are thought of quite highly in Istanbul,” explains Akgun. “The management wanted the systems to be inconspicuous, even in the live music bar. And, on occasion, the restaurant stages live events, too. It was a tall order to find loudspeakers that deliver the audio quality and SPL required in a compact footprint.”
The lobby of the hotel exudes elegance with high ceilings, marble, mirrors and brass accents as key elements to all of the hotel venues. Decorative brass grills hung from the ceiling serve as the perfect camouflage for a distributed loudspeaker system consisting of six One Systems 103IM loudspeakers. Another four 103IM loudspeakers are placed outside to provide the lobby terrace with background music.
The restaurant, located just off the lobby, is well known for its international cuisine and sophisticated elegance. The room features an abundance of mirrors and some of the same decorative brass grills as in the lobby. Once again, Akgun designed a system that blended into the surroundings. He placed a distributed loudspeaker system made up of eight 106IM and four 103IM loudspeakers between mirrors and behind the grills, in order to have the music seen and not heard. Another eight 103IM loudspeakers are located in the restaurant terrace to continue the musical ambiance outside.
One Systems loudspeakers deliver an excellent performance to size ratio. The 103IM and 106IM are loaded with a 4.5-inch and 6-inch (respectively) high-performance woofers for extended bandwidth response and superb performance. The direct weather loudspeakers are well suited for both indoor and outdoor placement – the enclosures are injection molded utilizing a copolymer material designed for use in extremely harsh weather environments. The suspension points are made of stainless steel. The three-layer grille assembly is optimized for acoustic transparency, as well as protection from windblown particles and water.
“It is terrific to find loudspeakers that are small, sound great and can withstand the elements,” adds Akgun. “I can keep the sonic signature the same throughout the hotel, without having any concerns about where the loudspeakers are placed. They really are quite terrific.”
When designing the system for the hotel bar, Akgun’s primary concern was to create a system that would support live music in a nightclub atmosphere. This time Akgun worked with One Systems’ On Point Audio brand. He placed two OPALine loudspeakers paired with OPALine Sub subwoofers to the left and right of the stage. Another two OPALine Sub enclosures are located in corners opposite the stage to add additional low end to the live music environment.
The OPALine is a vertical array loudspeaker that generates very wide horizontal dispersion, while providing exceptional vertical pattern control. The enclosure is loaded with a low frequency vertical array that consists of four NP8 high-output, narrow-profile woofers that operate up to 1,000 Hz. The HF section features two vertical line array waveguides that are both coupled to very high-output, medium-format titanium compression drivers. The OPALine is paired with the OPALine Sub – an 18-inch (9457 mm) subwoofer with two power amplifiers. The system provides outstanding vocal range pattern control, intelligibility and substantial low end.
“The OPALine loudspeakers are not only sonically excellent and capable of tremendous output and control, but they are also portable, which made them ideal for this application,” adds Akgun. “When necessary, they are moved into the restaurant to help reinforce special events scheduled for that venue.”
Last but not least, the hotel boasts an impressive 2-floor gym that was also in need of an audio upgrade. In addition to a distributed system of 14 – 103IM loudspeakers, 3 – 112IM-SUBs and a 212IM-SUB subwoofers were also installed to add the driving low end expected in high-end fitness centers.
“Our goal was to provide the hotel with sound reinforcement that would match their high-end image and exceed hotel guests’ expectations,” concludes Akgun. “It was imperative that the loudspeakers disappear into the background while still keeping music in the foreground. One Systems provides small loudspeakers with the same audio quality and pattern control as much larger boxes. The hotel is so happy with the system that they asked us to provide something similar for another property of theirs. When that happens, you know you have a happy client.”