Hotel Zachary Rocks Out With Martin Audio

Chicago, IL––Right across the street from iconic Wrigley Field, Hotel Zachary is a boutique hotel that delivers a genuine Chicago neighborhood experience, whether you are a baseball fan, curious traveler or local in-the-know.

Inspired by the world-renowned Wrigley Field architect and Chicagoan Zachary Taylor Davis, the hotel is a world-class dining destination with restaurants from Chicago’s best chef-driven restaurant groups including Mordecai Whiskey & Grill, West Town Bakery and Dutch & Doc’s––all equipped with Martin Audio CDD by Tim Pickett and Encompass AV.

Describing Hotel Zachary, Tim explains, “it’s a high-end hotel managed by Pivot Hotels & Resorts, and a member of the Tribute Portfolio, part of Marriott International, Inc. and owned by Hickory Street Capital, very classy and pricey. Modern, with soft edges. Kind of a mixture of upscale tourism and upper echelon expatriated Cubs fans.

“We designed the audio/video system that runs throughout the entire hotel lobby space which also includes the reception area, a large open bar in the center, a patio on the second level, and a private dining room.”

The sound system consists of 33 Martin Audio CDD6’s in a custom color (London Fog) to match interiors in the rest of the building, along with five CDD6WR outdoor speakers for the patio. There are eight CDD5’s mounted around the bar as fill speakers for those sitting at the bar. All speakers are ceiling and wall mounted and nine C6.8T ceiling speakers were deployed in the rest rooms and 11 CSX112 subs that are also ceiling-mounted around the space.

Asked about what he was trying to achieve with the system, Tim says, “we wanted crisp, clear and a very even sound throughout a space that varies in terms of people congregating in certain areas like the bar and single tables where people are eating lunch, yet we were faced with hard acoustic surfaces like a concrete ceiling with no acoustic absorption, hard walls and floors, with lots of glass surfaces as well.

“The trick was to get exceptional coverage with correctly positioned small speakers and strategically placed subs to fill out the low end. The hotel wants really good quality sound that’s upbeat and rocks.

“There are a lot of concerts in Wrigley Field with artists like Sting and Pearl Jam, and they want the same vibe to carry over on those nights so they can feature a playlist from that band that’s 9dB louder than normal for the fans staying at the hotel.

“CDD has the differential dispersion pattern which is huge. You get that smooth, even square-edged coverage pattern which creates a nice flow throughout the space. Where CDD really dominates the market is the quality of the vocals and the highs, that’s what really separates them from the competition. It doesn’t sound like it’s coming through a horn, it sounds like a great home stereo speaker.

“For the video, we deployed four Sony 4K 65” TV’s that fit into the millwork in the bar––very clean and classy, and outside there’s a $20K 85” Seura outdoor TV which is part of a 4K network video system.

“The client is ecstatic. The Vice President of Hickory Street Capital was delighted walking around the hotel with an iPad jamming on Pearl Jam and telling me how awesome it sounded.”

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