RCF Rocks It All Out In Hard Rock Hotel Penang
The newly-opened Hard Rock Hotel in Penang is practically a living museum of rock memorabilia. Rock legends and music icons are celebrated and their unforgettable tunes are played throughout the entire venue at all time. Memorabilia from icons like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross are on prominent display much to the delight of rock and roll fans there. Located by the breathtaking seaside on the coast of Batu Ferringhi, this 250-room hotel also houses the world famous Hard Rock Café, an all-day dining restaurant known as Starz Diner, a VIP lounge (appropriately named the King’s Lounge), a multi-purpose ballroom and a luxuriously stretched swimming pool.
While music is prominently referred to as its “heart and soul”, the whole sound system can be considered the hotel integral “spine and backbone”. Without it, the whole Hard Rock experience cannot be channeled out symbolically to its guests. Thus, it is integral for them to maintain and develop a good system to complete and deliver the whole Hard Rock experience.
Utilizing an RCF system as its main choice for sound and audio reproduction equipments may be viewed as a bold choice for some industry observers. But its General Manager, John Primmer, begged to differ. “Hard Rock may be an all American brand and symbol, but we are looking for quality in sound system. We have a set of standard and manual set by Hard Rock International for sound system. As long as we abide to this manual and standard, we don’t have to worry about the system’s country of origin. So far, RCF has performed great and up to our standard”
“RCF sounds really nice and it is perfectly suitable for our hotel. Our sound and audio consultant from Bali, Vision One, recommended RCF to us. Once we tested the system, we know that RCF is the one. With RCF, there are definitely no comprise in quality. Now, RCF is installed practically everywhere in this hotel”
In the exclusive King’s Lounge, a different type of RCF system is installed. “There’s this amazing tiny speaker by RCF. This impressive tiny fellow can give quite a dispersion and decent sound” With depth of 104 mm and width of 104 mm, the RCF HS 1026W can easily be mistaken as a ceiling ventilation hole. Mr. Sridevan Sriniwass, the Director of RetroAve (Rental partner of Acoustic & Lighting System), rained praises on it as well. “At the end of the day, we need to get the right kind of system in places for what is required. The HS 1026W is neat and lightweight. This coincides beautifully with the exquisite nature of the lounge”
In the prominent Hard Rock Café, RCF acustica series were installed. Utilizing both the C 5215-W and C 3108 line, Hard Rock Café will never be short of power and performance. Usually a live band will perform there every night to live up the atmosphere of the entire dining experience. In addition, the double storey café also houses the stylishly rocking souvenir shop, RockShop for guests to purchase a piece of tangible Hard Rock memory. The decision to use a full-range speaker instead of line array system is based solely on technical restrictions. “A line array will be too loud for a medium-size premise like this. It is wiser to use a full range speaker since it can practically do the same job for less. Line array is more suitable for larger size premise (More than 50 meters in length)”
For the vast and spacious hotel lobby area, the powerful MQ 50C ceiling speakers were installed. Facing the beach and sea, the hotel lobby is also the perfect premise for concerts or showcases to be held. Artists like Zainal Abidin and local band Hujan have all performed there before. On normal night, live band will perform a ditty or two to entertain the crowd and enliven the spirit of the night. Abundant number of MQ 80 P weather resistant outdoor speakers was installed around the pool area to provide soothing tune for guests to rejuvenate by the pool side. “The sound system complements the acoustic sound really well. It really brings out the tune and enlivens the entire atmosphere”
The whole audio system integration took about a year to complete. “We started at the end of February this year. There are many changes taking place throughout the whole course of installation. This includes the positioning of the speaker, the cabling and also the sound coverage. It is of utmost importance to make sure everything is in the right place”
However, the biggest challenge came when they start their work on site. Mr. Sri said that it is difficult to integrate the system on site when it tends to get into everybody’s way. “M&E department were doing their part of the job as well. Luckily, this time we found a more efficient way to move around. .As a result, we managed to work smoothly with everybody!”
In a hotel where rhythm is its main heartbeat, one cannot help but wonder what will happen to a world without music. It is difficult to envision the world today if influential masterpiece like “Imagine”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” or “Born to Run” were not recorded. They said, music is what feelings sound like. Judging by that phrase, I can “hear” the guests in Hard Rock Hotel smiling from their heart and having a time of their life.
Equipments supplied:
* 2 units of MS 520 digital controlled integrated
* 13 units of UP 1123 Power Line Amplifier
* 6 units of RC 62 remote control
* 55 units of MQ 50C ceiling speaker
* 10 units of HS 1026W ceiling speaker
* 2 units of MQ 90S subwoofer
* 15 units of MQ 60H wall mounted speaker
* 1 unit of CT 61 volume attenuator
* 20 units of MQ 80P outdoor speaker
* 1 unit of UP 4482 power line amplifier
* 2 units of AM 1122 line amplifier
* 8 units of C 5215-W full range speaker
* 6 units of C 3108 full range satellite speaker
* 2 units of S 8018 bass reflex subwoofer
* 2 units of S 8028 bass reflex subwoofer
* 2 units of DX 4008 digital loud speaker management
* 4 units of ART 310 A powered speaker
* 2 units of ART 315 A powered speaker
* 6 units of ART 312 A powered speaker
* 5 units of HC 2000 professional power amplifier
* 2 units of HC 3200 professional power amplifier