Langbro Vardshus is a top restaurant located just outside of Stockholm. Situated in
an architectural and historically significant villa, it is run by the renowned Swedish
TV chef and author Fredrik Eriksson, and rightly praised for its excellent regional
cuisine. In line with its quest for excellence, the restaurant recently upgraded its
audio system and Inexo, a local custom installer, chose Genelec’s 4000 Series
loudspeakers for their clarity of sound and ease of installation for the new system.
The Villa has an interesting history, and has, in its time been a mental health
facility and played host to one of the notorious figures in 20thcentury history! The
building has a traditional interior which has now been completely renovated.
Fredrik has been running Langbro Vardshus since 2005 and is an award-winning chef
and restaurateur, he is an important ambassador both for Sweden and Swedish food
and is primarily known for being a celebrity TV chef and the author of several
books.
The new interior design features a quiet and understated aesthetic that focuses on
natural materials and traditional craftsmanship. Modern technology also has its
place in the restaurant and as part of the refurbishment it was decided that the
outdated, big and bulky, audio system separates would be replaced with something
sleek and contemporary. Magnus Koff, the owner of Inexo has designed a system
that has streamlined the audio hardware and improved the sound quality and
functionality immeasurably.
“The restaurant interior is understated and stylish and the old audio system just
didn’t fit in with that look,’ says Magnus. “The old amplifiers and mixers sat on the
bar counter, and not only big and awkward looking they didn’t sound great either.
Our first job was to get rid of those and the new system, which features the
Genelec 4000 Series loudspeakers, is immeasurably better sounding and integrates
beautifully into the refined interior of the restaurant.
The new audio system in the restaurant inside Langbro has four separate audio
zones which are individually controlled by a Dbx ZonePro. The ZonePro comes
complete with both wired volume adjustment and SourceSelect panels behind the
bar. The music content is sourced and through an iPad which makes selecting and
changing the various playlists for different meal services, simple and easy for the
staff. The Genelec 4000 Series was chosen for its the excellent performance that is
achievable from a monitor with such a compact size. The speakers are also fitted
with a set of dip switches that Inexo were able to use to compensate for room
environment effects on audio quality.
“With the dip switch calibration options we were able to align, the room, speaker
and listener in perfect harmony, adds Magnus. “Each zone is different in the
restaurant but we were able to minimise any coloration effects from the restaurant
environment. The end result sounds superb and Fredrik and his staff are more than
delighted with the results.
The 4000 speakers also help to boost the restaurant’s green energy credentials with
the integrated Intelligent Signal Sensing™ (ISS™) Autostart function. This feature
places the amplifier in standby mode if an input signal has not been detected for
approximately one hour. The power consumption is thereby reduced to typically less
than 0.5 watts, and playback will automatically resume once an input signal is
detected from the source.
Furthermore, with the 4000 Series there are a range of speaker mounting
accessories which were extremely useful during the installation process. With both
swivel and tilt options the mounts allow the audio output to be pointed in the
desired direction for best results. Furthermore, as the 4000 Series are active
speakers with integrated amplifier, no additional external amplifier is needed which
reduces bulk, which is essential in environments where space is at a premium.
