Munro Acoustics recently deployed an end-to-end Harman Professional Solutions audio system at the Flea Bazaar Café, a first-of-its-kind dining and entertainment concept in the Lower Parel district of Mumbai.
Owned and operated by Impresario Group, the 7,000-square-foot café features 13 separate restaurants, a marketplace for local lifestyle brands, and a bar that serves local beers and craft cocktails. The Flea Bazaar Café also includes a community performance venue that hosts standup comedy, plays, DJs and live music, and more. The space features a unique pulley mechanism that can quickly lift the tables and chairs to the ceiling and create extra space for audiences, as well as a van that serves as the DJ booth.
Impresario Group hired longtime audio partner Munro Acoustics to design a state-of-the-art audio system that would complement the aesthetic of the Flea Bazaar Café and deliver even sound coverage in the highly reverberant venue. To ensure an even, smooth and enjoyable music experience for guests, Munro Acoustics selected a complete Harman sound reinforcement system comprised of JBL VRX line array speakers, JBL SCS Spatially Cued Surround loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers and dbx digital signal processors.
“Integrating the system in a highly morphable space such as Flea Bazaar Café was quite challenging,” said Kapil Thirwani, partner, Munro Acoustics. “We worked with the architects to make the subwoofers an integral part of the stage. The DJ plays through a van and we created a plug and play provision to disconnect the DJ van when not in use to free up the space for gigs. The venue was highly reverberant, and we faced some initial hiccups due to the complexity of the system design. However, the combination of the JBL VRX line array system and the JBL SCS loudspeakers worked well for this requirement. We chose Harman as our preferred audio solutions company for its wide range of JBL Professional loudspeakers, end-to-end solution offerings and their extensive service support network.”
The main house system includes six JBL VRX 932LA-1 compact line array speakers paired with four JBL VRX 918S 18” high power subwoofers, which are suspended from the venue ceiling. Two additional JBL VRX 918S cover the flea stall, kitchen garden and pan stall areas. Four JBL SCS 8 Spatially Cued Surround loudspeakers are used for side-fills around the main performance area, with six additional JBL SCS 8 installed at the flea stall, pan stall, and kitchen garden area. Although they are commonly used for cinema applications, the JBL SCS loudspeakers are ideal for installations where sound reinforcement needs to be provided in a compact space with flexible mounting options. The system is powered by Crown XTi 6002, MA 5000i and XLi 1500 amplifiers, which deliver reliable, uninterrupted power for performances.
“When I think of a bazaar, it brings back fond memories from my childhood,” said Prashant Govindan, senior director India & SAARC, Harman Professional Solutions. “Street food, shopping and entertainment have been all brought together in this innovative yet modern setting. Although the installation was complex, the Harman Professional and Munro teams worked together to create a versatile audio experience. One of the things that I admire about Kapil is his creativity and innovation. By combining JBL cinema surround loudspeakers with a JBL line array solution, his team was able to create a unique and immersive sound experience for guests.”
