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Hard Rock Hotel's Rare 120˚ Gets Zoned |
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Located within the bustling Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is the latest culinary offering from The Dolce Group, famous operators/name franchiser responsible for L.A.'s Geisha House and Ketchup, among others. Named Rare 120˚, the restaurant and lounge delivers a contemporary take on cherished steakhouse fare. A high-fidelity sound system centered on a Symetrix Zone Mix 760 DSP contributes the auditory thump and sheen to Rare 120˚'s modern vibe. The exotic wood finishes and brushed stainless steel of the room's classy Warwick Stone-designed décor form a sonic stage for which the sound system is perfectly tailored. Rutherford Design of Northridge, California designed and installed what may be succinctly described as a multi-input, triple-zone, 70-volt system. Far from uncommon, the modern approach to such a straightforward system improves upon designs of the past by simplifying the user interface, perfectly tuning the system to the room with current DSP technology, and delivering the superior system at a very competitive price. In all three respects, the Symetrix Zone Mix 760 facilitated the work of Richard Rutherford, principal of Rutherford Design. Rutherford used five of the Zone Mix 760's six outputs for the main dining room loudspeakers, the main dining room subwoofers, the lounge loudspeakers, the lounge subwoofers, and the bathrooms. In addition, two loudspeakers in a cozy "VIP" dining room take their feed from the main dining room system with a simple attenuator to get the volume right. All of the loudspeakers come from Tannoy's series of 70-volt and coaxial loudspeakers with support from additional Tannoy subwoofers both in the dining room and lounge. Because of their proximity, all of the zones receive the same input source. The separate outputs and their associated equalization and dynamics processing really serve to tune each element of the system for maximal effect. "We could have run everything together," said Rutherford, "but the end result would have been noticeably less smooth. For example, the Zone Mix 760 contains a nine-band parametric EQ on each input and output. By separating the restaurant output from the lounge output, we were able to apply slightly different - and tremendously precise! - EQs to compensate for their different acoustics." To control the system, managers use a Symetrix ARC-SWK wall panel with push buttons and knob to simply select an input source and change its volume. Available inputs include a DJ system, an iPod dock, a DVD player, and a satellite receiver. "Training the staff on the new system took all of thirty seconds, literally," said Rutherford. "We like that!" When asked whether price factored into their decision to center the system on a Zone Mix 760, Rutherford replied, "Price always factors into it. But we don't just look at price. We look at price versus function, price versus ease of programming, and price versus quality of sound. The 760 is not expensive by any measure, but its function set, intuitive GUI, and pristine sound quality make it a very good investment for modest, but important, installations like Rare 120˚. |
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