It is always good to hear about what solutions the installers that we work with find to make TOA systems work in harmony with a building’s décor. With our extensive range of speakers, they are able to specify TOA products that blend into both interior and exterior styles which complement the design whilst providing great sound. 

Here we speak with Paul Dougherty of Blaydon Communications Ltd about their thought process behind the products they choose for a recent installation in a unique building, The Linden Tree Pub, providing both an indoor and outdoor solution to the venues sound requirements. “Word of mouth is our best form of business referral and that’s exactly how we were recommended to provide advice for a new sound system for the Linden Tree Pub.

Sited in the grounds of the Linden Hall Hotel in the heart of Northumberland, the Linden Tree Pub is a perfect resting place after a round of golf on the superb Linden Hall course, or even to continue relaxation after a day spent in their wonderful spa facilities.

The venue has recently undergone a refurbishment project and before that commenced, the management were keen to explore options and solutions for a quality background music system.

After contacting a local events company, they were sent our way and we were very pleased to work with them and guide them from the blank canvas design stage, right through to final completion and handover.

As with all projects, an initial meeting was held to determine the outcome that the client was looking for. The brief was quite simple in so much as the system had to produce quality audio and fit in nicely with the proposed aesthetic of the refurbishments. It most certainly needed to be better than the multitude of black box loudspeakers from several manufacturers that had accumulated over the years and formed part of the current sound system!

The venue comprised of four areas: an upstairs lounge with dark wooden beamed vaulted ceiling, a downstairs lounge with clean bright colours, a conservatory area with a typical plastic vaulted roof, and an external courtyard area with a country garden feel. Each space was not only different aesthetically, but also very different acoustically too.

To provide a continuity of audio quality, tone, and level throughout the venue, we opted to use TOA designer loudspeakers internally, with weatherproof general purpose loudspeakers providing coverage in the courtyard area.

To blend in with the dark requirements of the upper loft style space, a total of three TOA F-1300BT loudspeakers were installed. For continuity of sound, the white variant of the same loudspeaker was used in the ground floor lounge area.

The flexibility of mounting options combined with the discrete size and design made these the perfect speakers for this installation. Most importantly, they sounded great too! The conservatory was a challenging space and rather more reverberant than the other areas.

Physically, the construction of the conservatory left limited options for the loudspeaker placement, but attention to intelligibility was required too. To overcome both these issues, we opted for a TOA H-3 wall mount designer loudspeaker. This provided 180-degree coverage throughout the area and the rear cable entry meant a superb aesthetic was maintained too as no cables could be seen when the job was completed.

Outdoor spaces are difficult too and the courtyard area required a discrete, weather resistant loudspeaker that could still produce high quality audio.

“To fulfil the needs of the space and keep the designer happy, we opted for the great all-round TOA BS-1030B loudspeaker, and the results were fantastic, ticking every box for both us and the client. The venue is now open and thanks to the TOA loudspeakers, customers are enjoying a quiet pint and bit of food in a superb venue with a great ambience.”