Potential Business Sound System?

Hi-Fi Corner
62

I’m going to second this. Pre lockdown I was at an indie coffee shop in the Northern Quarter in Manchester. Significantly sized room with a higher than normal ceiling. Found myself enjoying the music far more than normal. Great clarity; a bit of punch and I could talk over it and listen to it.

It was one original Muso QB. As the shop emptied the owner cranked it up and it was superb. The 15 year old has one and we experimented at home early on and discovered it’s room filling qualities ate excellent. The elaborate nature of other products looks a tad silly once you hear what a Muso QB can do in space.

63

Thank you Mike. Well that sounds perfect. I am looking forward hearing what the excitement is all about :slight_smile:

If you had to hazardous a guess on m2?

64

I imagine you would want to use an Irish dealer. If you’re looking in the UK, I’m across the Irish Sea in N. Wales and use Acoustica in Chester, who have been great, and are probably your closest Naim dealer if you fancy a trip on the ferry.

65

I had great success with flawless multiroom on Muso Qb mk 2. If you wated to create cheap zoned audio where you can adjust the volume of each zone fron a phone, it would get my vote. It depends on location though. I live somewhere where a cafe could (and do) put hifi within customer reach and people neither touch it or walk off with it. I imagine if you did this in the UK, someone would walk of with anything not mounted to the wall the second your back was turned.

Home speaker mutiroom is often seen here in expensive places. Different volume per location. Maybe different music in the loo.

66

This is a question to everyone that suggested Muso Qb on the understanding that I have never experienced it. A couple of years ago while sitting having breakfast in Brooklyn, I experienced a nice pleasant sound coming from a old school design (looks like their incredible guitar amps), single speaker system by Marshall ($350).

Weeks later I bought it for my bedroom. Now I have no idea if you can compare the two other than they are small in size (maybe even a ridiculous comparison by me). What I am sure is the Marshall can not be compared to my present Nait XS (played them side by side. No comparison) and future bigger Naim system sitting at my dealer in Dublin. With the single speaker Marshall, there is a definite lack of fullness and punch. So yes, it is nice background music and maybe more but at a good clip its not going to capture you (wow that’s what music should sound like). It seems from the people that suggested Muso Qb that is not what you have experienced or I will experience?

Hope I am not beating this to death. This is what a virus will do to you :slight_smile:

67

That’s sad. Ireland wasn’t like when I lived there, hopefully it has not changed. I distinctly remember someone handing in my Italian housemates calculator which he left behind in college. He was shocked and said that would not have happened in Italy so lets hope no walks out with the black cube :slight_smile: Maybe I will add GPS haha

68

Well sure it is great for zoned music but it won’t compare to separates. The Qb is great but a far cry from my UQ2 system or my multi box big system. I see home speakers used a lot in speak easies and trendy restaurants and their effectiveness as creating mood and atmosphere and being easy to move around as and when you redecorate or change the layout is great.

I guess another pertinent question is what type of cafe are you planning on running? For example, hifi cafe’s were a big thing in Japan in the 80s and early 90s. They still exist in smaller numbers. The model is that the owner stands behind the bar making gourmet coffee all day and reading the paper and at one end of the cafe is a a proper hifi, on a rack, with fairly expensive speakers and the proprietor has a massive music collection nearby with hundreds of great vinyl or CD and if you don’t like what he wants to hear, you can take a hike. In one cafe I used to frequent when I worked in the city centre in the mid 2000s, they had put up a doggy gate from one wall to another to discourage people going within about 1m of the system with a McIntosh valve amp and big JBLs. In another it was so cramped the LP12 was next to the till! Every wall was just shelves of jazz on vinyl. They did a decent cherry pie too.

If you are going to spend loads of time there and expect to have a certain type of clientele, going for a serious system might be acceptable.

69

I like the reading of the newspaper idea but making espresso all day well that would probably be a little tedious.

Having equipment gated and being paranoid about it well that would not be fun.

If it does materailise then this is what in brief I would envision: Rusitc cafe on a Main Street. It would have an industrial look using lots of reclaimed wood, fixtures, wooden crates (“The Crate People” if similar in europe); get a bit new york going with one red brick wall; maybe brushed concrete floor; comfy couches, 6-8 tables; counter space; maybe a backroom or upstairs if possible but not essential; someone brought possibly selling a limited number of vinyl; lots of photographs; board games; set menu of very tasty food (wow thats good); public TT; great sound and music of course; and later at night it kind would morph into a casual bar. Money wise I need to do it down the country. Can not afford Dublin. My friend said I should go to a college town and yes I probably should but at the same time, I just want something small that I don’t blow all my savings on and I enjoy it. If it makes money well great and if someone comes to me and says we love your place and would you like to try it in Dublin and here is 100,000 then why not. To be honest, if it only became a fun place for people and myself to hang out and i break even then why not. I would be simply happy with making people happy because guess what then I will be :slight_smile:

Thanks for making me think about this :slight_smile:

Any other ideas are welcome or if I am off my rocker thats okay too.

Here are a couple of other silly ideas. Pay on the honour system based on your experience and instead of getting a stamp for coffee/tea bought, you get a stamp for leaving your phone outside haha

An example of furniture made from old wooden crates:

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Just saw this on craigslist new york (115v but easy to convert) for $1,200. I am sure I could get it for less.

71

Running any catering business is a lot of hard work, long hours, cooking, cleaning, serving, stocktaking, etc. If you don’t even fancy making coffee…?

72

I am guessing it would make sense to find your premises first and work out best system for that space rather than the other way round?

73

Don’t worry Chris I am just being flippant. I know what I would be letting myself in for. It’s a long way for environmental consultancy but I’m not afraid of hard work when it comes to entertaining :slight_smile:

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74

I agree. Just doing some ground work and narrowing the options.

75

Sounds like a fun venture either way. Do let us know how it turns out. I’m betting you go for Qbs or similar if it is an odd shape with semi isolated room areas or that you migrate the home system behind the counter and put decent wall mounts on the wall opposite so that you have the be best seat in the house.

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76

I like the concept, but the problem with this idea seems to me that you have customer expectations, not owner expectations… Dealing with the public, day in and day out, is not always the social, friendly, relaxed interaction you are imagining - they are sometimes rude, careless, dismissive, and so on. I’m unclear who much you’re joking but I wonder if the reality would be anything like what you imagine it to be…

Musically, I think you really have 2 choices - you go for widespread ambient sound, which can be the same volume (low, or high) all over the room, in which case you need either a series of things like Muso cubes or similar, or an AV amp driving multiple in-ceiling or in-wall speakers (or on-wall).

Or, you go for a more focussed music area at one end, with a stereo speaker pair, and people choose their volume level by where they sit. I’d then be looking at a decent PA/performing music kit for its rugged nature and the ability to play loud as needed.

I’m not convinced that the subtleties of hi-fi are needed - good music, for sure; flexibility in what anyhow it’s played, yes - but the presentation will be echoic in the space you describe, with loads of ambient noise and chatter - why spend money on things that are not well suited to that space.

Sure, generate a vibe by having a specific sound - a very valve-oriented approach would be good, with some glowing tubes on display (if you can do it without then being jostled too much) but only at moderate cost - the additional money for high end gear is not really going to be noticed.

And if it’s Ireland, I’d look at two other things - local custom, and visitors. University town gives you potentially all day and all night custom with loads of medium-spending people; quiet country gives you some evenings and more connection with locals. If on tourist route/hotspot, revenues and rents are higher. Many pubs I went into when I was there had a good local music scene, some making it band-friendly (and for turn up and jam sessions) the PA route might be a winner…
All IMHO, obviously.

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77

Any public performance has to be licensed - and that even includes people playing music out loud in their own office at work if members of staff (who count as public for this purpose) or public may enter when the music is playing, or even if the door is left open and they hear it in passing - or at least that is how PPLPRS Ltd, the UK’s licencing body, interprets it, though whether that extreme an interpretation can be enforced I don’t know. The only exception is playing copyright-free music. In UK at least, cafes and bars etc playing music, whether piped in the background or more deliberate, have been subject to this for as long as I can remember,

78

I’ve just bought some crates for vinyl storage from these guys:
ligneus

79

Something a bit similar in Paris: Bistrot bar Justine

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80

Lots of wisdom in that piece. Thanks. Yes, it may appear I am half joking sometimes but that is mostly based on my personality but when it comes to food, atmosphere and throwing a decent party, I am quite neurotic. Believe me, observing the public every day in New York prior to virus, I know people can be demanding arseholes. (Actually, one amazing thing about this city, is you can people watch all day even in the company of friends). Growing up in small town Ireland, I know how some stupid comments on a business can spread like wildfire and that was before the scourge of social media.

Your 2 choices are very similar to a Naim employee. Although, I believe someone earlier suggested in this thread that the AV2 was great for home theater but audio wasn’t at the same level.

Definitely, right about going high end audio hence I won’t be putting my 250/272/XPS in there (maybe i should say never but then I would rebuy it for the home). Not sure if the general public is going to appreciate it. But they will appreciate good sound because it will be better than anything they have at home. Just as an example, I would buy maybe secondhand amps if required non-dr. The tube amp is a nice idea with glowing tubes. A quick story on how I ended up buying Naim. My local stereo shop had a McIntosh MA252 hybrid integrated amp. I loved the look and it sounded good too. Called McIntosh to ask about converting to 220V later down the road. The service fellow was rude and not very helpful. Looked at other options. Called Naim and what a contrast. Hence, I bought a secondhand Nait XS. Very happy with it. Maybe I can bring it home with me and possibly incorporate in to system instead of selling it.

My hometown is nice but tourists are not flocking there because they are flying pass it to the west coast. So my choices are my home town or a college town. Hometown would be less stressful, old friends, less money therefore my expectations would be in check and if it didn’t work out then turn the place into a great space to hang out based on if I owned it. College town, I different keetle of fish with memories of my college days, more money, more stress in making it work, etc.

Thanks

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81

If I do it, Drinks on me and if I bin the idea, I will remain silent :wink: