The beautiful city of Zadar lies on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, and is renowned for the Roman and Venetian ruins that characterise its Old Town peninsula. For all its historic architecture, the city could never be accused of living in the past, hosting a vibrant progressive culture centred around its bustling shops, cafés and nightspots. Located within a refurbished, revitalised old cinema building in the heart of the city sits GUMA, a flexible 300-capacity venue that combines traditional hospitality with a lively atmosphere, and describes itself as the ‘living room’ of Zadar’s cultural community. GUMA’s attractive interior design is complemented by a selection of urban music which appeals to a discerning crowd who can relax with friends in its comfortable surroundings by day, and hit its dance-floor in the evening.
Since opening in 2018 GUMA has been relentless in its pursuit of excellence, challenging itself to maintain the highest standards in all areas for the benefit of its diverse, age-agnostic clientele. As a venue dedicated to delivering a high-quality music experience, its team recently took the decision to upgrade GUMA’s sound system, believing there was room for improvement on their existing provision. Any new system had to be flexible enough to meet the demands of a wide range of applications including cultural and literary presentations, but have the power and clarity to deliver sets by not only local, but the regional and national DJs who regularly visit. A further requirement was that the audio needed to be accurately contained within the space to avoid disturbance to the venue’s nearby neighbours.
Marketing Manager at GUMA Frane Skoblar commented: “We needed an outstanding audio experience for our customers. Everything we provide has to be exceptional and we felt that we had fallen behind with our system. The space transforms from a lounge-bar to a nightclub every day, as well as hosting a variety of other events, so we couldn’t compromise our standards. We had to change.”
The GUMA team, some of whom had worked with Pioneer Pro Audio products on other projects in the past, were more than happy to accept the recommendations of Darko Deak and Mario Erceg, owner and technician respectively at installation and rental specialists Amadeus II.
“When clients want serious equipment for an install of this scale and type, Pioneer Pro Audio is a great choice. The sound quality is excellent and so is the build quality,” commented Deak. Amadeus II designed a system comprised of Pioneer Pro Audio XY-Series loudspeakers to give the flexible, focused audio that GUMA required.
Darko continues: “The XY speakers have a very natural character, so you can play different styles of music and they’ll all sound great. Because the speakers are so easy to work with, we were able to direct the sound into the right areas and avoid any external disturbance. Just as with previous jobs we’ve worked on with Pioneer Pro Audio, the installation was a smooth process with no delays.”
At GUMA, Amadeus II installed a combination of 10 XY-81, 4 XY-122 and 2 XY-218S (subs) all driven by Powersoft amplification, with a further 2 XPRS-10 (active) for the DJ booth.
Frane concluded: “We were very pleased with the improvement in sound quality compared to the previous situation at GUMA. Most importantly our DJs and guests have also really noticed the difference. Their feedback is precious to us and we’ve received many positive comments and online reviews. The new system has provided us great value for our investment in delivering the clear and powerful sound we needed.”
The flexibility to meet the wide-ranging demands of spaces such as GUMA is a hallmark of Pioneer Pro Audio’s range. Music plays a key role in a number of ways in Zadar’s ‘living room’, from background sounds which accompany convivial daytime conversation, to high energy DJ sets at night. Staff, customers and DJs all agree that it’s never sounded better.
