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Restaurant Sound Systems


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A certain type of Hipster (or whatever the term for that is now) restaurant often has a very good high-status sound system.

For example, I was sitting at the bar at Sailor in Fort Greene, Brooklyn earlier this week and I found myself staring at a huge McIntosh amp.  McIntosh makes some of the best amplifiers in the world -- and they cost it.

I really wanted to hear it -- but of course I couldn't.  I mean, I could hear there was music playing, but with all the ambient noise in the restaurant I couldn't hear the nuance and detail a great amp provides.  This isn't a question of volume:  it's that you can't appreciate really good audio equipment if it's only playing in the background.  Even if they cranked it up, you couldn't tell how good it was.  And of course, the speakers weren't placed for imaging or anything; they were just stashed on shelves:  again, not maximal for listening.

I'm not complaining about the ambient noise or the speaker placement or anything.  For God's sake, it was a restaurant.  Rather, I'm wondering what the point is of a restaurant's having an amp like.  I suppose they consider it more as a piece of decoration than as a sound producer.

Seems like a waste of good money and good audio equipment.

Edited by Sneakeater
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Right.  I mean, it's not hyperexpensive:  it's McIntosh entry level; my own home amp probably costs more now (not when I bought it, I hasten to point out!). 

But why does a restaurant need a $5500 amplifier?

Edited by Sneakeater
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19 hours ago, StephanieL said:

Unless they're planning on offering live music or an after-hours disco, I don't get it either.

Not that it matters or anyone cares, but just to clarify:

You couldn't play live music through this.  It's an audio system amplifier, like you'd have in your living room.

And it would be just as wasted on after-hours disco as it is on background music.  Not what amplifiers like this are for.

Edited by Sneakeater
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On 2/1/2024 at 1:24 PM, Sneakeater said:

Not that it matters or anyone cares, but just to clarify:

You couldn't play live music through this.  It's an audio system amplifier, like you'd have in your living room.

And it would be just as wasted on after-hours disco as it is on background music.  Not what amplifiers like this are for.

In their case, amplifiers like that are for ostentatious pedantry. 

Edited by backyardchef
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