- Martin Audio C6.8T and C4.8T recessed ceiling mount speakers were used with AQ speakers and subwoofers for the arcades, baths, cabanas, pool deck, Harbor Drive balconies, the retail shops, and courtyard of Grand Cayman's Margaritaville.grand cayman, cayman islands-With clubs sprouting up all over the Caribbean, the next stop for the successful Margaritaville franchise is a 20,000-square-foot restaurant, nightclub, shopping arcade, swimming pool, and deck designed for pleasure-seekers in a classic estate strategically located right across the pier from the major cruise lines.
- Jamaicans Ian Dear and Brian Jardim, who acquired the rights to the franchise from singer-songwriter/entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett in 2001, already have thriving Margaritavilles in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, and Sangster Airport in Mobay, with the new club in Georgetown and another that just opened in Grand Turk.
- Located on the expansive second level and part of the first floor of the completely renovated building, Margaritaville Grand Cayman seamlessly interweaves large, comfortable indoor spaces for the restaurant, dance club, and two floors of retail stores, with outdoor terraces graced by a large swimming pool with a huge spiraling waterslide and swim-up bar. Besides balconies off of the club space where patrons can catch some air and enjoy the views of the historic seaport, there are also lounging areas to soak up the sun and hyper-Caribbean atmosphere.
- Because the facilities were going into an existing structure within an established neighborhood, there were challenges right out of the gate. As AV integrator Paul van Puffelen of Miami's Southern Technical Support Services pointed out, "As it turned out, the club is tucked up right next to a historic church. We had to be very sensitive to how sound projects in that direction, so we faced the speakers inward in those areas and put controls in so those zones can be shut down in case there's a funeral or some other event other than a church service on Sunday.
"We had a lot of different zones throughout the club," continued van Puffelen, who was assisted on this project by Harris Audio (supplier) and Hopscotch Productions of Grand Cayman for location support. "The entrance is actually located in the retail shops on the street level with a wide stairway to the second floor open air pool, cabanas, and outdoor/indoor bar and restaurants and additional shops are all situated. The nightclub and dance hall is interconnected with an indoor space with a center stage and a VJ booth on one side, a small stage in the center for local bands and Juliet balconies with a view of Harbor Drive where the cruise ships anchor."
Besides the strategic positioning of power, speakers, video, lighting, and control throughout the site for maximum coverage and high quality (because of Buffett's ongoing influence, superior AV is critical at every Margaritaville) van Puffelen used Martin Audio AQ Series enclosures in the lower volume areas like the cabanas, retail spaces, pool, and courtyard, with Martin F8s and F12s for the stage with S-15 and AQ212 subwoofers, and F8s in the night club bar with S-218 subs and tri-amped Wavefront WT-3 uppers in the dance hall, driven by Lab Gruppen and Martin Audio power amps. System routing and processing is accomplished using BSS Soundweb Londons with front-end protection from Aphex. A Yamaha MG-1616 mixer and dbx equalization were used for the stage system along with Shure SLX Series wireless mics and Pioneer mixers and CD players for the stage and "crow's nest" DJ booth.
Martin Audio C6.8T and C4.8T recessed ceiling mount speakers were used with AQ speakers and subwoofers for the arcades, baths, cabanas, pool deck, Harbor Drive balconies, the retail shops, and courtyard.
The comprehensive lighting system included Source 4 par lights, Dove Systems consoles and dimmers for the stage and dance floor, along with a Robe Scan 250 XT moving mirror lights and DMX controller for reliability and ease of programming.
Asked about the client's reaction to Margaritaville Grand Cayman's multimedia setup, van Puffelen concluded, "The club just opened a few months ago, but they're really happy with the quality and coverage of the audio across the board. They also love the flexibility of the DSP processing and signal routing. Seems like everyone who goes there is having a lot of fun, which is what Margaritaville has always been about. They had 6,500 bikers roll through on a recent Sunday morning during a 'Hogs on the High Seas' event."
