L-Acoustics system designed to shift gears between day and night

Moyo Drymades, located on Albania’s Ionian coast, combines a restaurant, wellness space and beach club. During the day, it offers a relaxed seaside atmosphere, while at night it transforms to host DJ sets, live performances and large-scale events.

This dual identity shaped the requirements for the upgrade of its audio system. A single system had to deliver discreet, warm and pleasant sound in the restaurant, relaxation areas and wellness spaces during the day, while also providing the power, frequency response and dynamic headroom required for Saturday nights. All this in an open-air venue with virtually no walls to help contain the sound and exposed year-round to the salty coastal environment. A complete L-Acoustics system, designed and installed by Certified Partner Prosound, now meets both requirements.

One system for two very different environments

Prosound is an Albania-based systems integrator with experience in audio projects for premium hospitality, entertainment and large-scale event venues. The company supported Moyo from acoustic design through installation, commissioning and system optimisation, with Endrit Veleshnja leading the design and Henri Balla overseeing the installation.

Moyo wanted powerful, punchy bass, excellent definition across the frequency spectrum and uniform coverage throughout the venue. The system needed to perform equally well with background music and DJ sets during the week, before meeting considerably higher SPL and dynamic headroom requirements for weekend events, explains Endrit Veleshnja, Project Manager at Prosound. 

Definition is just as important at 11 a.m. as it is at midnight. During the day, when the system competes with the sound of the sea rather than a crowd, the clarity and natural warmth provided by A15 Wide coverage allow dining, conversation and wellness activities to coexist on the beach without the need to raise the music volume excessively.

IP55 protection against seawater and salty conditions

The second major challenge at Moyo is its location. The club sits directly on the sand, completely outdoors and with very little distance between the loudspeakers and the sea.

"The system had to withstand years of exposure to seawater, salty conditions, humidity and rain", says Veleshnja. "Weather resistance came as standard, rather than being something for which we had to find additional solutions. A15 Wide, KS21 and SB18 IIi are IP55-rated, providing the protection and reliability required for a coastal location without compromising audio performance".

Soundvision and eight individually aimed X12

Moyo does not have the straightforward geometry of a rectangular room. The dance floor, restaurant, lounge areas and perimeter spaces all had to be covered simultaneously from positions dictated by the beach itself rather than by the architecture of a building.

Soundvision allowed us to model SPL distribution, system angles and the different audience areas throughout Moyo before deciding on the final positions. In the final project file, each of the eight X12 has its own placement angle and azimuth, individually adapted to the venue’s geometry rather than repeating the same configuration. This allowed us to balance the main dance floor with the out-fill and front-fill areas, as well as identify potential coverage irregularities on screen instead of discovering them by ear once the system was operational, adds Veleshnja.

The system from the dance floor to the perimeter

The main system comprises two flown arrays of two A15 Wide each, installed on either side of the performance area, and four KS21 subwoofers, with two units per side ground-stacked.

The A Series provides the definition and directivity required by the project, along with the low-frequency impact Moyo wanted for its electronic music programming. The KS21 provide the headroom needed to maintain that impact in an open-air space without surfaces to help contain the sound.

Coverage is extended by eight X12, used as satellite and fill loudspeakers across the dining, lounge and perimeter areas, together with six SB18 IIi, which ensure uniform low-frequency coverage beyond the main dance floor. In the DJ booth, two X15 HiQ and two SB18 IIi are positioned on either side of the mixing console.

Two LA12X and three LA4X amplified controllers power and process the system from enclosures designed by Prosound to protect them from rain, humidity and coastal conditions. These enclosures also ensure the necessary ventilation and thermal headroom while providing easy access for maintenance.

Results

Since the system was commissioned, Prosound says Moyo Drymades has become a benchmark for audio quality on the Albanian Riviera. Feedback from engineers, artists and production teams visiting the venue consistently highlights one aspect: the low frequencies deliver significant physical impact while the mids and highs retain their full definition, regardless of the time of day.

We designed the system with enough headroom to handle the biggest nights while maintaining the directional control required for the venue’s daily programming. This allows the venue to move from one atmosphere to another without compromising coverage. We are delighted with the final result and with the equipment, system design and optimisation that made it possible, explains Veleshnja. 

"Customers notice the new system from the moment the first song starts playing", says Tatu, resident DJ at Moyo Drymades. "The power and clarity we now have on this beach are exactly what we wanted to achieve and are part of what keeps people coming back".