In the last years the acoustic conditioning concept has become very popular in México, there is a high number of online vendors that offer different materials with “acoustic properties” that can be use in different applications.

Selling service instead products

At Kuh Acoustic received constant calls and emails asking for the price of the acoustic panels, unfortunately we don’t sell any acoustic panel without a previous investigation of the particular needs and after a specific analysis of the situation.

This practice has brought interesting projects that conclude on customer satisfaction and avoid a lot possible complains about the product efficiency when the end user tries to solve independently some problem with the wrong request product or application. The most common error is that clients want to buy acoustic panels to cancel the noise coming from the neighbors or outdoor community noise, I dedicate time to explain the difference between sound isolation and acoustic treatment.

High performance audio gear

There are projects that start from a vague idea or a dream, the clients spend a lot of time and money to define the concept of the new place that will offer the best of music and cocktails. After visiting many hifi bars around the world and searching with professionals they decided that the best option to dress the bar was   JBL Synthesis loudspeakers and Mcintosh amplification. The @Dextra Electronics Mexico design team together with @Luis Castillo were in charge of the sound system reinforcement, selection of the products and final calibration was done by @Augusto Nieto Moreira  and @Daniel Cervantes 

An unique opportunity

The benefit of working in an audio and video wholesale company like @Dextra Electronics Mexico , brings the opportunity to meet the correct people who is looking for acoustic solutions for different venues. Since the beginning the HiFi bar project attracted my attention because recently I had been doing some research and visiting some Hifi bars in México, Spain and Germany to learn more about the different concepts arround.

The acoustics bring the magic

Besides considering the best audio equipment, the goal was to look for proper acoustic conditions to get that intimacy, comfort and good listening experience, almost like making any visitor feel at home. I had very close communication with the architects and  ownners to understand the acoustic expectation, even though there was not an specific budget to assign to this discipline, it was clear that should be some kind of magic to transform the ambience without modifying substantially the original design concept. Iukily I had the chance to collaborate on the acoustic design as KUH Acoustics.

The challenges

At first interview with the architect, the questions were identically as the phone calls from clients I described previously: ¿How many acoustic panels should I use to avoid the sound goes out and bother the neighbors? ¿what type? ¿what cost?

Depending on the location of the project within the cities, the sound isolation typically faces the hardest challenges, dealing with neighbors and the municipality authorities, the limits on the SPL should be perfectly established and different strategies for sound isolation should be employing to get satisfactory results or at least acceptable. When I started working on this project the main walls have already been built.

There were limited surfaces in walls to add absorption, a large percent was made of glass that separtes the terrace, there was a need to keep this visual conexion with green area outside. I found in the ceiling the best possible area to modify and add several square meters of porous absorbing material.

One of the largest walls that originally were design to be plain wood, was changed to wod stripes over PET sheet with special careful in the installation to obtain maximum abosoprtion.

The result

Once the sound system was perfectly calibrated, the furniture and decoration installed and everything was ready, finally we could perceived the quality of music and the essential of the place, very cozy and intimate, the sound was feeling very close to the ear and the stereo sound envelope the space.

If you are planning a trip to CDMX, don’t miss the opportunity to visit Roca and experience one of the best hifi bars in México, if possible please share your oppinion of the place.