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Fat Buddha
The recently opened Pan-Asian restaurant ‘Fat Buddha’ in Durham City attracted a great deal of publicity after the local authorities’ head of cultural services, Tracey Ingle, requested a change of name as she deemed it ‘provocative’.
 Utopian Leisure spent in excess of £1.4m on the 220 cover restaurant which is above their LoveShack nightclub. To be in keeping with the visually stunning interior, the sound system needed to be discrete and of the highest quality. Part of the requirements stipulated by Carl Hornsby (Director) of Utopian was that flexibility and future needs should be catered for.
Blaydon Communications Limited insisted that the system be controlled by two of the highly versatile and respected Nexia SP digital sound processors from Biamp. Dave Chapman from Blaydon commented that ‘we have used these and other products from Biamp and found them to be extremely adaptable. The software is simple to configure and the support we receive from both beyerdynamic( the distributor) and Biamp is second to none. That is what we strive for .....quality throughout”
The ground floor bar is catered for by utilising KV2 active loudspeaker units, using four EX10 extreme resolution units together with two EX2.2 active bass modules. The side seating area has the first EX6 compact extreme resolution unit’s installed in the UK
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A further four EX10’s were installed in the first floor main restaurant. At the end of the restaurant a mirrored door automatically slides open to give access the four ‘Tatami’ rooms catering for about 12 persons in each room. Each room has its own volume control and an RCF Monitor 5 constant directivity loudspeaker.
The sound system works into 4 zones with a local digital control panel giving the restaurant staff the ability to select the music source and volume for the various parts of the venue. The Biamp Volume Select 8 panel offers quick and intuitive control over their venue and by keeping it simple, Blaydon have ensured that everyone can accommodate the new technology.
The flexibility of the Nexia was brought into play very early on with Utopian requiring extra sound sources. The first for ‘birthday’ music to be played only in the main restaurant with automatic muting of whatever source was currently being played and secondly an additional audio input was required for a digital Freeview box to complete the installation. The Nexia DSP was easily amended by the Blaydon engineers and in a matter of moments the “new” club layout was ready to be used. “This degree of adaptability really benefits us and the client”, Dave Chapman said. “We can integrate the customer’s requirements with the minimum amount of downtime thereby saving the club valuable money.”
The Nexia range is made up of 5 different models , each with the same simple open architecture software. A variety of inputs and outputs sets them apart from each other but maintaining the flexible approach, up to 4 different Nexias can be linked together to create your own unique system design.
Fat Buddha’s and it’s clientele are growing, going from strength to strength and it is more often than not fully booked with the sound system assisting in the ambience and entertainment of all who visit.
For more information on Nexia, click here 
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