Obvio Cocktail Bar

Obvio is the New York City debut of Chilean restaurateur Juan Santa Cruz, whose portfolio of super-exclusive venues includes celebrated establishments in London’s Mayfair and Notting Hill. Conceived as an intimate “jewel box” supper club and cocktail bar in Manhattan, the project demanded an audio system of the highest calibre: discreet, colour-matched, and capable of transitioning seamlessly from refined daytime dining to high-energy late-night DJ sets.

Installer Kurt Schlossberg of ear NETWORKS led the specification, deploying a bespoke Martin Audio CDD system that delivers world-class sound within an architecturally ambitious, cocoon-like space defined by curved walls and sculpted panelling.

For Four decades, ear NETWORKS’ Kurt Schlossberg has worked at the intersection of audio engineering, architecture, and experiential design. When Chilean restaurateur Juan Santa Cruz approached him to realise the audio vision for Obvio, his first New York venture, Schlossberg knew immediately what the space demanded.
“Juan only does super exclusive places,” Schlossberg explains. “He told me about this little jewel box he was creating in New York. He wanted the most discreet high-performing system that could be colour-matched, to double as triple-A background as well as triple-A foreground.”

For Schlossberg, the answer was Martin Audio’s CDD series, a range he has championed since hearing, shortly after its initial launch. “In the ISE demo room, I was immediately blown away,” he recalls.

“Although I have the pick of the litter when it comes to commercial audio, Martin Audio is the only high-end brand I use. It is literally the best of the best.”
CDD Series was also perfectly suited to Obvio’s architectural character. Because much of the walls and panelling are curved, creating a cocoon-like atmosphere, Schlossberg worked closely with the project architects to integrate the loudspeakers as seamlessly as possible into the fabric of the space.

The system comprises four CDD6 units wall-mounted toward the front of the venue, colour-matched to the lighter wall panelling, and eight CDD8 cabinets at the rear, delivering punchier, higher-SPL output over the dance floor. A single SXC115 subwoofer is concealed entirely out of sight above the bar’s amoebic canopy feature providing the low-end foundation the space demands when DJs step up to the Pioneer CDJs after dark.

The result is a system that transitions effortlessly from soft, enveloping background music during daytime service, giving way to a substantial increase in SPL as the evening progresses. “When you can take CDD6 and CDD8 and mix them with the punchy subs they are matched to,” says Schlossberg, “you get an experience that makes you prouder in a commercial environment than you would be in your own listening room.” The quality of the installation has been a hit with both the client and the room.

Challenge 1 – The architecture: The venue’s curved walls, rounded panelling, and sculptural interior create a cocoon-like environment that, while visually stunning, produces complex acoustic behaviour. Sound reflections, diffusion, and SPL consistency across a non-rectangular space require careful system design and close collaboration between the integrator and the project architects. Drawing on his parallel background in architectural planning, Kurt Schlossberg embraced fully embraced the process.

Challenge 2 – Flawless performance at both ends of the experiential spectrum: Central to the audio brief was the requirement for an ultra-refined, barely-there background during daytime dining, the system effortlessly transitioned to a high-powered, room-filling foreground system after dark. Achieving this dual-mode performance without visual compromise or tonal inconsistency required precise speaker selection and placement. The CDD series’ coaxial differential dispersion technology proved uniquely suited to this challenge, allowing consistent coverage across the listening plane and seamless SPL scaling from ambient to club levels.

Challenge 3 – Concealment: Juan Santa Cruz’s exacting aesthetic standards demanded that no element of the technical infrastructure intrude upon the visual experience. Here again, the CDD Series proved its worth. Curved enclosure design enables cabinets to sit flush against walls and ceilings. Additionally, the ability to finish the enclosures in any RAL colour meant the CDD6 and CDD8 units could be precisely matched to the wall panelling, effectively disappearing into the interior. The SXC115 subwoofer was positioned above the bar’s sculptural canopy feature, fully hidden yet acoustically effective. The solution layered interior design sensitivity over audio engineering and the synthesis of the two disciplines defines the Obvio installation.

Challenge 4 – even coverage without excessive speaker count: CDD Series’ Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology crucially addressed the challenge of even coverage through an irregularly shaped room without an excessive speaker count. Unlike conventional fixed-dispersion horns, which can leave gaps in coverage, particularly in areas close to the loudspeaker, the rectangular dispersion pattern of the CDD Series reaches all corners of the venue evenly. This consistency in frequency response and SPL across the whole room meant Schlossberg could deliver seamless, high-fidelity coverage throughout Obvio without compromising the aesthetic with additional cabinets.

Obvio represents the gold standard of what high-end hospitality audio integration can achieve, with invisible technology delivering extraordinary experiences. Kurt Schlossberg and ear NETWORKS brought four decades of expertise to a project that demanded perfection across every dimension from acoustic and architectural, to aesthetic. The result is a venue where Martin Audio’s CDD technology disappears into the fabric of a jewel-box interior, yet commands the room with authority when required. In marrying the exacting vision of one of the world’s most discerning restaurateurs with best-in-class technical execution, Obvio sets a new benchmark for integrated audio in premium cocktail bar environments.