I just wrapped up a job at a recently revovated restaraunt. The old place had a 70v system throught, and the new owner inherited it. We decided to use it as background music once again but added some other things. We have six 8ohm speakers, and a sub in two different areas being run with pro mixers and two four channel amps. Feeding them is an hd satellite receiver and xm tunner, and a 5 disk dvd changer. In the bar we have two pioneer elite 43" plasma's.
Now this is the best sounding system in a restaraunt I have ever heard. And the plasmas look great with two hd receivers feeding them. Here is where my admiration for the job ends. Controll of the system is terrible. Pro mixers and sliders, pro amps and their gain adjustment, and multiple sources are creating a nightmare for users. I'm sure this will be many service calls to fix. My question is what would you do. We are Crestron dealers and could use crestron gear to automate, but I will have to admit it is a tough sell to a restaraunt. I am hoping to get some suggestions for multi source audio stuff, that can be crestron integrated for pro aplications. Thanks for your input.

vts, wow I am impressed you ever got a restaraunt to even buy plasmas..They are always hard to sell to..Even though as of late many restaraunts have raised the bar..( we recently did a small one with 3 plasma's and killer sound and sat) although he bought the plasmas on line..Crestron is the right track and you can not go wrong with it...IMO you gonna just have to push the hell out of it..We have almost gotten to the point of being cynical when people don't want Crestron because of price..We tell them this remote is O.K. it will work,BUT...and then the rant begins..LOL...Good luck with the gear search


THXRick

You have mixers because ? ? ? the client inherited them? Well, I find it pretty effective to sell Prontoid remotes by having the customer use all six remotes while telling them that there IS a solution, and though it will cost bla bla bla...

Does he need mixers because he is using several microphones at a time? Or is he saddled with mixers because that is what is already there? You have to figure out how difficult it is to work the system and propose an easier way. The easier way will cost money but will solve headaches. No money spent now MIGHT mean that the SuperBowl party is a bust because someone just did not GET that they could blow the amps if they did such-and-such...and how much will THAT cost, not just in money but perhaps reputation? If a customer leaves the club because of the sound system, are they likely to come back in a week?

Get your ducks in a row. Get a price on a preamp to use in the system. You know, ONE volume control!
I have a buddy who does lots of clubs, so knows the kind of equipment to use where nearly brain-dead employees will still not start fires or spend the night in silence. It is out there; email me with some particulars if you want some particular advice.

RANE.COM

what about Nile Intellicontrol it's about stupid easy to opperate and half the cost of the Crestron...

Though the Intellicontrol was all the rave in it's day, it has become outdated. The RF performance with the Niles is marginal at best, it does not play well with some of the newer equipment out there, and your pretty much stuck with the UI arrangement. And it CAN walk away if you don't bolt it to something heavy.

Now if you're talking about using the Intellifile's MSU with say, a color touchscreen (ala Pronto or Marantz or whatever), your getting pretty close to Crestron in terms of PRICE, but nowhere near the performance. And it can still walk away if you don't secure it.

The biggest things you have to remember with the environment you are installing in is:

1. The equipment will have to stand up to more plonged use.

2. Most of the people that will be using it, likely won't treat it with kid gloves.

3. Smoke, grease, and dirt and dust will take it's toll on the equipment.

Some sort of keypad or fixed mounted touchpanel will probably be the best choice for the situation, but keep in mind the environment and the people using it.

Let's start at the beginning:

What does the owner want?

Paging? Bar Music? Sports? background music?

To me (a 70 volt guy) it sounds like you have gone from the solution to the problem. You might need something small like the small Mackie, Toa, or Austrailian Monitor pro lines to help you sort this out. With these product lines, there is no need for a battery powered remote that can walk out with the next fired waitress, it's built into the wall, permantly mounted and is already preset (by you!). The Mackie in particular has very user and installer friendly wall controls.

with them, you can mix live sound (band, DJ), with paging (Smith party of 4), background music, TV sports, and adjust the volume and have the bartender (or VJ) select the source and volume.

The most plasma monitors I have ever sold into a restaurant was 20, the most projectors: 4,

Home theaters are not like Bars or Commercial presentation rooms. You do well to remember this when recommending product, especially to friends.

You might be able to rescue it with Mackie's 8x8 matrix switcher.

loose the mixer use new Xantech LCD very reasonably priced

Have one zone, replace the mixer with a moderately priced, but up to date home a/v receiver or preamp. (up to date for connectivity and digital audio in's to accomodate HD audio)Then you can run your heavy amps from the pre-outs on the stereo/surround receiver, (Maybe surround speaker placement is possible for one tv?) or even if not, you could slave the 70V either way, just a bonus. Connect one plasma to this main system and use the other one for video only, provided they are in the same viewing direction. Last, get a Pronto or similar remote and have it programmed.
If the restaurant is really divided into two seperate rooms, maybe the only answer for user friendlyness would be two completely independent but identical systems and two remotes.