Hospitality

Best Bar, Restaurant & Hotel Sound Systems

Unite your guests

Martin Audio delivers a consistent acoustic signature of rich, clear sound across a venue, connecting the different facets of the space and delighting the guests that frequent them. Consequently, venues become destinations and more profitable.

“When you walk through the building, you essentially have the same acoustic signature throughout every space.”Gibsons Italia, Chicago, USA

Request Your Complimentary System Design Bars & Pubs Restaurants Hotels & Resorts Outdoor

What great hospitality sound demands, and how Martin Audio delivers it

Nobody walks into a great venue and talks about the speakers. But guests notice immediately when it's wrong. Great hospitality sound comes down to four things, and each one has to be designed in.

ADORN pendant loudspeakers hanging in the dining room at L'Osteria, Metzingen

Comfortable levels, in every seat

Where it goes wrongToo loud, and guests tire, raise their voices and leave early.

How we put it rightA distributed ADORN or CDD system will cover a room evenly at comfortable levels, so no table is overpowered.

How it works

Rooms get loud when sound is concentrated in a few places: the loudspeakers nearest the guests are driven hard so that distant tables can hear. Spreading the work across a distributed system lets each loudspeaker run at the levels needed for clarity and nuance across the whole room. ADORN provides on-wall, in-ceiling and pendant solutions at an accessible price, while CDD on-wall solutions with a wider, even pattern enable this with fewer speakers.

Velvet booths and neon in the bar at Coco, Dubai, after dark

Atmosphere and energy

Where it goes wrongToo quiet, and the energy goes.

How we put it rightOur loudspeakers provide subtlety and nuance through the day, but when the party starts, they still deliver the punch necessary, especially when underpinned by our SX subwoofers.

How it works

A venue that runs at dinner levels at six and as a bar at ten needs loudspeakers with low-frequency extension and headroom. Choose ADORN for efficiency or CDD for premium sound. Pairing with SX subwoofers will also give extra body and weight that make a room feel full at low level and still carry it when the night builds.

Main dining room at Gibsons Italia, Chicago, with tables spread across the full width of the room

Even coverage, no dropouts

Where it goes wrongUneven, and guests feel uncomfortable without knowing why.

How we put it rightCoaxial Differential Dispersion (CDD) series keeps coverage even through the crossover region, where ordinary two-way loudspeakers lose it.

How it works

Walk through venues and you will often hear the seams: a loud patch, a dull patch, a dropout where two loudspeakers fight. CDD combines the point-source benefits of coaxial designs with the consistent coverage of differential dispersion, so the tone holds as guests move through the room.

White Martin Audio CDD loudspeaker mounted under the eaves at a hotel pool deck in Miami Beach

Clarity at any volume

Where it goes wrongUnclear, and guests get frustrated.

How we put it rightMartin Audio signature sound is consistent across our portfolio meaning a clarity of vocal projection and musicality is guaranteed, with a wide selection of formats to cater for all volume levels.

How it works

From a quiet table to a busy bar, guests need to hear the music as intended. Our full-range loudspeakers are designed for listening, not just for filling a space with noise.

One venue, many rooms

A hotel or restaurant isn't one space. It's a lobby, a bar, a dining room, a terrace and a pool deck, each with its own acoustics. Each zone needs its own level, coverage, tone and music. The risk is a venue that sounds like six different venues. Martin Audio's answer is a consistency of sonic signature through every range and format, so every zone shares the same tonal character and the guest moves through the building without hearing a seam.

Pictured: Hotel Zachary, Chicago, from lobby to patio.

  • Lobby at Hotel Zachary, ChicagoLobby
  • Lounge and bar seating at Hotel Zachary, ChicagoLounge
  • Dining room at Hotel Zachary, ChicagoDining room
  • Second-level patio at Hotel Zachary, ChicagoPatio

Solutions for every kind of venue

Rooftop bars to live music venues

Sound systems for bars and pubs

CDD point source with SX subwoofers gives even coverage and the low end a bar needs to feel alive, from rooftop bars to venues with live music. Where there's a stage, TORUS adds mid-throw reach as main PA. For the independent bar or pub that wants Martin Audio sound at an accessible price, BlacklineQ carries the Blackline series' long pedigree forward.

Products: CDD · SX · TORUS · BlacklineQ

In practice

  • Apogee, Chicago: bar sound system installation
    Apogee, Chicago

    Award-winning rooftop bar outfitted with Martin Audio.

    Read the case study →

  • Aqua Kyoto, London: bar sound system installation
    Aqua Kyoto, London

    A fresh system for the Oxford Circus site.

    Read the case study →

  • Albert's Schloss, Birmingham: bar sound system installation
    Albert's Schloss, Birmingham

    TORUS and CDD for the music venue.

    Read the case study →

  • Dead Wax, Norwich: bar sound system installation
    Dead Wax, Norwich

    A vinyl and live music bar for Laine Pub Company, fitted by Penguin Media Solutions, with Blackline Q12 flown for the live area, a Blackline Q218 centre subwoofer and a Blackline Q8 as the DJ's reference. “Loads of punch and a crystal-clear top,” said Penguin's Dylan Thompson, and the opening night drew queues round the block.

    Read the case study →

For every atmosphere

Sound systems for restaurants

CDD is ideal for the main space, while ADORN serves all ancillary areas. Choose FlexPoint for added performance if your restaurant has a rockin’ atmosphere.

Products: CDD · ADORN · FlexPoint

In practice

Handled as one system

Sound systems for hotels and resorts

Lobby, bar, restaurant, spa and pool deck handled as one system. CDD, ADORN and Ceiling series cover the interior, and the weatherised and marine CDD editions cover outdoors.

Products: CDD · ADORN · Ceiling series

In practice

Outdoor pool deck at Bla Bla, Dubai, a hospitality complex with Martin Audio sound

Weatherised and marine

Outdoor, rooftop and pool-deck sound

CDD weatherised and marine editions cover terraces, pool decks and rooftops, with transformer versions available on the CDD5, CDD6, CDD8 and CDD10.

Products: CDD

For operators with more than one venue

For a group, the question isn't one great room. It's the same great sound at every opening, from one specification. ADORN gives an accessible line of on-wall, in-ceiling and pendant loudspeakers with Martin Audio's signature sound, and CDD is the best-selling dedicated install series, with weatherised and marine editions for outdoor areas. Specify once, and every venue sounds like the brand. At Albert's Schloss, the system became the template for the operator's later openings.

The ADORN family: on-wall, in-ceiling and pendant loudspeakers in black and white

Why the sound system is a commercial decision

A quality sound system can encourage guests to stay longer, spend more and become regulars.

What the research links

  1. Better sound
  2. Guests stay
  3. Guests spend
  4. Guests rate it higher
  5. Guests return
  6. A destination

Sound guests enjoy pays

Research at the University of Strathclyde found that guests who liked the music stayed longer, that time spent was the strongest predictor of what they spent, and that liking the music went with enjoying the visit and intending to return.

Source: Caldwell and Hibbert (2002), Psychology & Marketing

Guests queuing outside Dead Wax, Norwich, on opening night

Operator voices

At Dead Wax, Norwich, there were queues round the block on opening night.

“What the system has done is elevate the whole venue.”

Rob Hall, designer, Laine Pub Company

“The client is ecstatic.”

Tim Pickett, Encompass AV, Hotel Zachary

“The Martin Audio system has provided Albert's Schloss with a great sound; we are really happy with the result.”

Godfrey Russell, Group Property Director, Mission Mars, Albert's Schloss, Birmingham

“FlexPoint became the obvious solution, and it worked out really well.”

Scott Tomashek, project designer, CCCP, Rock & Brews

“Loads of punch and a crystal-clear top.”

Dylan Thompson, Penguin Media Solutions, Dead Wax, Norwich

“The client is ecstatic.”

Tim Pickett, Encompass AV, Hotel Zachary, Chicago

More real-world hospitality installations

Case studies PDF

Where to buy
Return to all Applications

Let us design yours

Every venue is different, so we design for yours. Tell us about your space and the zones within it. Our Application Specialists model it in DISPLAY 3. You see exactly what's possible, and the design is yours to keep.

  1. Tell us about it

    Your venue and its zones.

  2. We design it

    We design it in DISPLAY 3.

  3. See it, no strings

    Ready to move forward, we'll work with you and our installation partners. Not ready yet, the design is yours to keep.

Request your complimentary system design

Already know what you need? Where to buy

Frequently Asked Questions

The one that sounds the same in every part of the room. CDD for the main range, ADORN for discreet ceiling, pendant and on-wall use, FlexPoint for prestige rooms, SX subwoofers for low end, TORUS where live music needs more reach, and BlacklineQ for independent bars working to a tighter budget.

One loudspeaker family across the lobby, bar, restaurant and outdoor areas, with weatherised CDD editions where the weather reaches.

Treat each zone as its own design problem for level, coverage, tone and content, but use one loudspeaker family so the tonal character matches. Systems are modelled in DISPLAY 3 before installation.

Start with the venue's zones and what each one needs: level, coverage, tone and content. Choose loudspeakers for each position, place them deliberately, and model the system in DISPLAY 3 before anything is installed. A complimentary design shows the proposal before any commitment, and installation is carried out with Martin Audio's installation partners.

Yes. CDD has weatherised and marine editions.

There's no single answer, because Martin Audio offers a range of solutions across budget levels, from ADORN and BlacklineQ through to FlexPoint. A complimentary design shows what each would deliver, and a distributor or integrator provides pricing.

Since 1971, from touring stages to the world's best-loved bars, restaurants and hotels.

How Can We Help?

If you have an audio project, whether that’s a Live Event or an Installation, and would like some expert advice or interested in a demo, please register your details

Get Project Advice