The Opinicon Lodge Resort, located in Ontario, Canada in the Rideau Lakes area, started as a private residence in the late 1800’s and then evolved into the privately held ‘Opinicon Club’. The property was sold and converted into the Opinicon Hotel in 1921. The Opinicon then served many generations of vacationers but time and age finally caught up with the hotel and it was closed and put up for sale in 2014. Fiona McKean and her husband Tobias Lutke came to the rescue with the purchase of the property in January 2015 and started a multi-phased major restoration to bring the resort back to its grand stature.
Ottawa firm Cables Plus was approached by the architectural firm LineBox Studio, spearheading the restoration of the resort, to provide a modern sound system for the main lodge. The goal was to balance the requirements of the multipurpose main lodge structure while maintaining the heritage of the building. Five rooms in the main lodge needed a sound system, each with very different requirements. The Alford room (a banquet room) with vaulted ceiling, a games room with vaulted ceiling, the main dining room with covered porch, the pub and a small staff room all posed different acoustical challenges.
Cables Plus recruited the assistance of Erikson Commercial to assist in the design and supply of the system components. “The first job was to select a high quality yet versatile speaker,” said Richard Fontaine of Erikson Commercial. “First, the speaker had to have a back can of less than 6-inches due to the heritage construction constraints. It also needed to have a paintable grille, be able to be installed in thick ceilings (ceilings of wood lath over gyprock) and provide a wide full frequency dispersion. We selected the SoundTube CM62-BGM as the main speaker for all 5 rooms.”
The CM62-BGM is a full-range, ported, 6.5-inch speaker with integrated backcan. Its backcan depth of 5.75-inches (146.1 mm) met the space requirements of the installation and SoundTube’s exclusive SpeedWing™ quick-clamping system had the variable depth needed for the thick ceilings. Proprietary BroadBeam Ring™ technology ensures wide dispersion of high frequencies for maximum intelligibility, even off-axis. In the Alford room and Games room, where ceiling clearance permitted their use, Erikson and Cables Plus complemented the CM62-BGM speakers with SoundTube CM1001d-T subwoofers. In other rooms, due to ceiling constraints, Cloud Electronics CS-SUB8W surface-mount subwoofers were used.
For audio system control, Erikson and Cables Plus installed a Cloud Electronics DCM1e Ethernet Digital Control Zone Mixer with 8 line level inputs and 8 zone outputs with three CXV425 4x250W line amplifiers. Connecting to the DCM1e are 5 CDR zone controllers, 2 microphone inputs, 1 balanced input and 3 line level inputs. An Arcam rPlay music streamer was added as a source of on-line music content. A Samson wireless Synth 7 handheld microphone was provided for use with larger gathering where microphone assist is needed.
In addition to this sound system, Erikson and Cables Plus installed a Draper Ultimate Access motorized ceiling recessed projection screen in the Alford room; to enhance site security an IP Video security system was placed throughout the main lodge complex.
Opinicon resort owner Fiona McKean says “We are very pleased with the new sound system and the SoundTube speakers. This system helps immerse our guests in the beauty and charm of the Opinicon.”
