Galvin at Windows given JBL makeover
Offering peerless views over the city, top London restaurant Galvin at Windows (on the 28th floor of the London Park Lane Hilton) opened in May 2006.
With chef Chris Galvin at the helm, the restaurant quickly became one of the most talked about in London, as patrons either headed right into the restaurant or left into the elegant cocktail bar on exiting the lift.
However, the one aspect of the bar’s infrastructure that was found wanting was the sound system, and in due course general manager Fred Sirieix decided that in order to complete the perfect atmosphere this would need to be upgraded.
“The old ceiling speaker system was not sufficiently powerful for our private events and there were ‘pockets’ where there was no coverage,” he said.
Sirieix had worked with the Sound Division Group (www.sounddivision.com) in a previous guise — back in his days as general manager of another exclusive London bar/restaurant, Noble Rot, which had also been equipped by the technology suppliers.
He was aware that back on the hotel’s ground floor, the Sound Division Group had also recently fitted out the chic Whisky Mist, operated by Piers Adam and Nick House, on the site of the famous Zeta Bar.
Fred Sirieix decided it was time to renew his acquaintance with David Graham’s company, inviting them to provide a demonstration of suitable JBL speaker products. He was aware of the outstanding performance of JBL’s Control 29’s in Whisky Mist, and the same speakers were demonstrated, along with JBL Control 26CT ceiling speakers. The result was that this combination was specified as part of a complete sound package.
Sound Division retained the existing cabling to the old ceiling speakers, which were promptly replaced with seven JBL Control 26CT ceiling speakers. Meanwhile new cabling was run to the four Control 29 speakers — with one positioned discreetly into each of the four corners — while a Martin Audio AQ210 floor-mounted subwoofer is enclosed in its own special discreet housing at the back of the lounge.
Sound Division have also installed a separate plug-in point for a flightcased portable DJ system — housing a pair of industry standard Pioneer CDJ 1000 Mk3’s and Allen & Heath XONE:62 mixer) when the venue reverts to party mode (or for private bookings). An EV SX300 has been provided as a portable DJ reference monitor.
The existing sound equipment hardware running the background music system was reconfigured to accommodate the new JBL system with the addition of two new Crown XLS series amplifiers and a dbx Drive Rack PA, which processes the system, ensuring full sound optimisation and speaker protection.
This iconic space now has a background music system which meets the high standards of the restaurant, and of which Fred Sirieix can be proud. “We wanted an even spread and now there’s nowhere in the bar with a flat spot; the sound is evenly dispersed and we have the power in the system to turn it up as required.
“Also there are no cables showing which makes this a very tidy job. It’s not a shock to see big loudspeakers when they fit into the general aesthetic.”
The installation had to be completed from start to finish in a single day — on August Bank Holiday Monday when the venue was closed. This required a lot of meticulous forward planning by the installation team, headed by Dean Osbourne … who ensured that the fit-out was completed in 15 hours.
Said David Graham, “I am really pleased with the upgrade work we have carried out; the quality of sound is vastly improved, and this is particularly noticeable when a DJ is playing in the Bar Lounge. The installation was a challenge with the timescales involved, but we delivered on time and on budget, and Fred (and the hotel) are very happy with the end result.”
September 2009