Hurrairah bin Sohail discovers how K-array and Soundclassy joined forces to deploy discreet audio systems at Sennet Frères’ retail outlet in Hong Kong.
Sennet Frères, a brand with 150 years of heritage, decided to make a comeback in Hong Kong under the stewardship of Hins Cheung, a Chinese-born Hong Kong singer, songwriter and artist. The comeback included the establishment of a retail outlet at 22 Russell Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Needless to say, the retail space required AV systems and solutions.
The first port of stop was a partner that Hins Cheung was familiar with. Marc Vincent from K-array explains: “There is a history between me and Hins Cheung. When I was working at Sennheiser China he was the brand ambassador for Sennheiser, for its microphones and headsets, and this meant that we worked together on different projects, events and press conferences. He is also a fan of K-array products and he’s been using and installing them for his projects. So, when it came to the Sennet Frères project and the revival of this brand it was natural for him to come to K-array.”v Hins Cheung details the start of the project: “I have installed three recording studios myself, the one in Guangzhou being the largest. Based on my own understanding of the project, I think the scale of this project is small, but it was very difficult. First of all, it needed to be setup in a short time, and each layer has a different system. Similarly, the property itself has its flaws, that is, the design of the cable duct, which did not allow flexibility when placing some data lines or others. I needed help to get through the planning of the entire project in a very short time.”
Vincent took the lead when it came to designing the audio system for Sennet Frères. He was presented with clear requirements and he details: “The audio system for Sennet Frères had to be very discreet but also provide immersive sound for each of the four floors. Sennet Frères is presenting bridal couture and the focus has to be on the visuals of the dresses. They could not afford to have big speaker cabinets or black boxes disrupt the aesthetic of the retail space. So, the challenge was to provide great quality sound without being seen.”
Vincent’s next task was to translate the requirements of Sennet Frères into audio systems and technical specifications. But Covid-19 disruption meant that he was unable to be present in Hong Kong for the project. The choice of a partner for the project became crucial and Vincent details: “The first choice for the integrator to handle the project was Soundclassy. We’ve worked on multiple high-end projects before and the trust level there is very high. And of course, from a technical point of view, I know how quickly Soundclassy is able put an installation together, to have the audio system deployed and tuned and working. With Covid-19 travel restrictions I was unable to visit the site in person and that made it even more important to ensure that we had an integrator that we trusted to deliver quality.”
Bill Chu from Soundclassy states that it was an easy decision for the integrator to come on board: “We’ve worked with Mark before and we have had a long and fruitful business relationship. When this opportunity for Sennet Frères was presented to us we knew it would be a great chance for Soundclassy and K-array to work together on what looked like a really good project.”
Sennet Frères’ retail space spans four floors and each has been equipped with audio. Vincent from K-array says: “The four floors are architecturally the same size. The space itself was in use before by a high-end luxury brand which had its own AV systems. While the AV systems were removed, the interior décor was retained, and it was something that the client really wanted to preserve. This is where the requirement for discreet speakers came from. The ground floor is one big rectangle and the audio in the space had to go further and be louder than the other floors.”
The ground floor features four K-array KK102 I speakers, two Rumble-KU210 subwoofers and a Kommander-KA24 amplifier. The first floor features eight K-array Tornado-KT2 speakers, two Rumble-KU26 subwoofers and a Kommander-KA14 amplifier. Moving one floor up, Vincent details: “The space on the first floor is separated in half, with half of the space being used for fitting rooms. So essentially, we had one big space and then a number of small rooms for people to try clothes and this meant that we needed to have two different sound fields. The second floor is similar to the first floor.”
To meet the needs of the second floor spaces, two K-array Lyzard KZ14 and six Lyzard KZ12 line array elements have been deployed. These are augmented by two Truffle-KTR25 subwoofers and powered by a Kommander KA02 amplifier. Vincent discusses the last space: “The top floor is meant to serve as a VIP lounge, where Sennet Frères entertains special clients in a more private setting. Due to this usage the space obviously needed special audio.”
The VIP lounge has been equipped with two K-array Vyper KV25 line arrays and a Truffle-KTR26 subwoofer powered by a Kommander KA02 amplifier. Chu from Soundclassy provides additional details: “When it came to the systems for the individual floors, we just followed the design from K-array and the systems ran perfectly. It was just on the top floor for the VIP lounge where we had to make a few small changes. We needed to add a controller to give Sennet Frères a degree of control over the audio for this space. So, we provided an analogue mixer and that did the trick.”
Vincent from K-array details how audio signals are transported: “The only amplifier that is remote is the one that is located in the VIP lounge. Other than that, all the equipment is in one rack, in the same room on the first floor. So there really wasn’t any real advantage to going down the Dante route. We used analogue for signal transmission. Simplicity is good.”
Soundclassy states that the project was completed without hitches as Chu details: “Because the entire audio chain is made up of K-array products the integration was quite simple and straightforward. The main challenges we had were with the cabling and how the system was to be used by Sennet Frères. There were some issues with pulling speaker cables because even though we chose discreet locations for the speakers themselves we still had to run cables through the ceiling and the client wanted to ensure that the décor was preserved as much as possible. We worked with the project manager to ensure that all issues were resolved. On the ground floor, Sennet Frères is using marble while all the other floors are using carpet. Since this is a retail shop for bridal couture, there are clothes on display and that makes the acoustic environment less harsh as well. It was just the ground floor with its marble where we had issues with refraction, but they were not serious, and we were able to address them easily.”
Hins Cheung gives his final thoughts: “I can see that the speaker size is much smaller than I thought. I am very surprised, especially by the system design which is in accordance with the environment, and the number of subwoofers and the number of tweeters. For example, our ground floor, because it is meant to be an event space and there will be performances, we might need to use another system. When the K-array is in use however, the sense of stage is very strong. Another important outcome that we have achieved is that the setup of each layer or floor is different which is perfect because each layer fulfils a different purpose. This is what I feel most grateful for.”