STEREO

STEREO is an amazing bar that regularly tops lists of the best places for a night out in London. They get everything right; from the food to the décor, the cocktails to the music, every element goes towards creating an atmosphere that people enjoy and brings them back time and time again.

There were two main challenges when it came to completing the STEREO installation: space and time. Due to the ‘underground’ nature of the bar – both figuratively and literally – there were serious limitations when it came to installing hardware. STEREO’s brief was clear; they wanted ‘people to notice the sound’ when they were enjoying themselves. In order to deliver that, the expectation was that the bar would need to have the same equipment and performance as a recording studio. However, since STEREO is in a large underground cellar beneath Covent Garden, space was at a premium.

A series of ‘very skinny’ 10” L-Acoustics subs were placed in the ceiling area, nestled invisibly between the various air conditioning pipes and other facilities’ infrastructure. Underneath the stage, Solotech managed to squeeze 4 x 21” L-Acoustics subs. In the words of the client, Mikey Sorbello, ‘I don’t know how we got them in there, but we got them in there!’ Around the bar, there are a series of zones that are serviced by a series of 5” drivers. ‘The idea was to make it sound like you were standing in front of the stage everywhere – even in the toilets!’ And the entire system is controlled by a DiGiCo SD11 desk with an additional Pioneer mixer and multi player for Dj specific nights.

The other challenge was time. STEREO had a very tight window in order to hit their scheduled opening date, and due to the supply chain issues, that were still being felt in the first half of last year, it meant that the installation was carried out over a couple of very busy days. ‘It was down to the last minute,’ recalls Mikey Sorbello. ‘Definitely impossible without the help of Solotech.’

STEREO are committed to creating a venue that delivers a diverse range of live music, and so they needed sound, lighting and staging that enabled their artists to shine. The brief to Solotech was to create a consistent audio experience throughout a busy bar that sounded as good as an intimate studio – and do it quickly. The fact that they delivered it on time and exceeded STEREO’s expectations is incredibly impressive.

The equipment list for this excellent project is as follows:
L-Acoustics – 12 x 5XT Loudspeaker, 6 x A15 WIDE, 4 x KS21, 10 x L-Acoustic X4i, 2 x L-Acoustics X12, 4 x Ultra compact subwoofer: 1 x 10″, 4 x L-Acoustics LA4X C, 2 x LA12X CE. DiGiCo – SD11 desk. Chauvet – 26 x Rogue R1X Wash, 32 x COLORado Batten Net-X II. Martin Professional – JEM Hazer Pro 230V 50/60Hz EU. Chamsys – MagicQ MQ70 Compact Console. 2 x Pioneer DJ – Professional Multi-Player, 1 x Pioneer DJ – Pioneer DJM-900NXS2 DJ Mixer.