The North Wollongong Hotel is a large multi-faceted hospitality venue in the center of Wollongong, New South Wales. Popularly known as the North Gong Hotel, it features a bar, bistro, beer garden, and an upstairs function area which caters for private events. Live music, DJ sets, televised sport and pool tables all feature in this vibrant and very busy setting, for which high quality audio is essential.
North Gong’s management team recently took the decision to replace the venue’s ageing audio system, recognizing that it was no longer fit for purpose, and engaged Dan Chapman of Data Dan to install an upgrade. With support from Scott Angove of Audio Brands Australia, Dan designed and installed a future-proof, high-quality system which featured loudspeakers from leading UK commercial audio brand, Optimal Audio.
“Having good audio is crucial in creating atmosphere," said Josh Hill, the venue’s manager. "It’s the basis of people having a good time. The old system was installed in 2003, and we had a lot of dropout points and quiet areas where music would fluctuate in level, so key to our upgrade criteria was to obtain full coverage without pushing the music too hard—we’re in a residential area and we don’t want to impact our neighbors.”
[A Giants-Sized Audio Makeover]
Optimal Audio’s Cuboid 8 loudspeakers were deployed for the indoor spaces. This two-way, full range, passive 8-inch unit effortlessly delivers rich and detailed sound over short to medium throw distances, outperforming its compact size.
In the bistro and bar areas of the North Gong, the loudspeakers were positioned fairly close together to run at a lower level for background music but still provide smooth, complete coverage in every area. When the party atmosphere ramps up, the Cuboid 8s have more than enough headroom to deliver the necessary punch, with their eight-inch drivers delivering impressive low end.
For the function room, which caters for a wide range of events, the stage area was equipped with a pair of Cuboid 12s and a single Optimal Audio Sub 15 subwoofer, comfortably delivering the impactful low-frequency response required for live music performances and DJ sets. The onstage system was augmented with a complement of Cuboid 8s distributed down the length of the room to ensure even coverage.
“This is a big hotel with a large capacity which can get very loud. It quickly became apparent that the Cuboid Series from Optimal Audio would be the best option, particularly the Cuboid 8," said Scott Angove of Audio Brands Australia. "It fitted perfectly in the bistro and bar areas, as well as supplementing the larger Cuboid 12s in the function room to great effect.”
Ultimately, customer satisfaction is the true measure of an installation’s success. “Since installing Optimal Audio we’ve seen that the dropout zones are not there anymore—the quality of sound is really good without pushing it too hard," Hill said. "The coverage means that we now see people inside the venue dancing at their tables. It’s not just in one space where people can enjoy themselves like that—it’s everywhere throughout the whole place!”
