Jacy’z Hotel

A large-scale AV project that incorporated the implementation of over 3,000 products in total across a large hotel, including over 130 Genelec loudspeakers.
The ESS Group have an eye for form as well as function and found that the Genelec loudspeakers fit its audio requirements perfectly, whilst having a visually pleasing design. Genelec provided a flexible loudspeaker solution comprising of both a networked Smart IP and a regular 4000 series – resulting in a solution that met the requirements of each zone as well as the budget.

Genelec’s Smart IP models, powered by a single Cat-5 cable, are an installer’s dream and greatly reduce cabling and installation time. As well as this, Genelec’s room compensation technology allowed the integrator to tune each individual loudspeaker to suit its acoustic environment.

Overall, the Swedish AV integration specialist, Informationsteknik, was contracted to design and supply all of the building’s AV and conferencing facilities. This included the implementation of over 130 Genelec 4000 series and Smart IP loudspeakers across the hotel’s numerous floors.

The ESS Group decided to go with a Genelec solution after being shown a demonstration of both models’ capabilities. It was impressed with the audio quality and the aesthetic of the enclosures, which blended seamlessly with the interior of the hotel, with an extensive RAL colour range on offer.

Informationsteknik deployed the Smart IP models in zones where there were groups of four or fewer loudspeakers and the 4000 series where five or more were required for a zone, delivering the optimal balance of cost-effectiveness and networked flexibility.

It proposed products, zone by zone, and developed room types that were equipped with the same technical solution. Genelec fits the bill for most of public areas – such as restaurants, bars and lounges – thanks to its extraordinarily clean, transparent reproduction, both at high and low levels, its aesthetic form factor and its small footprint relative to power output.

The room response controls on the back of each loudspeaker make them easy to configure for optimum performance, and they are available in numerous different RAL colours if required. From an integrator’s perspective, Genelec’s designs are easy to use as they are active – which means no external amplifiers to worry about – and Informationteknik knew it could count on Genelec’s rock-solid reliability for years, even decades to come. In a world where sustainability is ever more critical, this is a crucial element in the decision-making process.

In terms of networking and control, Informationsteknik supplied a Biamp Tesira server with both Dante and AVB support that handles all of the audio traffic, fully stocked with expansion cards. There are nine central music players with customised soundtracks to fit different themed areas which can be routed to any of the audio zones. A scheduling program runs in the background that adjusts volume and makes sure the correct source is playing in every zone.

Each venue throughout the hotel has its own DJ panel (XLR-to-Dante wall plate) so staff can change the source from the music player to these panels as required. The beauty of centralised audio routing is that there can be a DJ playing in the penthouse spa, but guests can listen in from anywhere, from any of the 130 premium quality Genelec loudspeakers installed throughout the site.

Due to the particularly large-scale nature of the project, with the various types of contractors involved, the organisation of these various strands posed a challenge. For AV alone, almost 3,000 products were implemented in total, and the installation of a lot of this equipment required coordination with the other subcontractors in construction, electricity, networking, and operation. To deal with this, weekly meetings between all the relevant parties were set up, ensuring that deadlines were reached on time and under budget.

Genelec’s plug-and-play technology also certainly helped streamline this, at least with regards to the audio element, with its Smart IP models, in particular, requiring significantly less time to install.

Additionally, the ability to reconfigure the loudspeaker levels, even remotely, with ease, was a huge boon for this project, where each room required a very different level of output or atmosphere.