Audio System Provides Quality Music and Clear Voice Paging in Large, Open-Plan Store

Market of Choice is a regional grocery chain offering conventional, natural, organic, and health conscious products at nine locations in Oregon. Its large, modern stores include grocery, café and wine sections and emphasize high-quality background music to create a pleasant atmosphere for shoppers. The stores also require clear, intelligible voice paging for customer service voice paging for customer service.

Pro Sound and Video of Eugene, Oregon designed and installed the audio system for the newest Market of Choice location in Beaverton, Oregon.  Pro Sound’s Anthony March says the stores are well-designed and attractive but different areas have different ceiling heights and ambient noise can vary significantly with location and with time of day.

March chose Community’s D SERIES and C SERIES loudspeakers to provide high-quality audio throughout the store. Community DP6 pendant loudspeakers cover the high-ceiling open areas; DS5 surface-mount loudspeakers provide sound in the low-ceiling wine area and café and C4 ceiling loudspeakers provide music and voice paging in the dropped-ceiling offices and kitchen. The D SERIES and C SERIES loudspeakers cover the store evenly and their “uniform voicing” helps maintain consistent sound quality in the acoustically different areas.

To meet the ambient noise challenge, a Biamp AudiaFLEX processor varies the level in each of twelve zones based on time of day. Thus, the level in the kitchen and café areas increases during the lunch hour and levels throughout the store decrease during times of reduced customer traffic.

March says Market of Choice appreciates the stylish appearance of the pendant and surface-mount loudspeakers and the owner, an audiophile, is very pleased with the system’s excellent audio quality for both music and paging. March says he plans to use the same design and loudspeakers for another Market of Choice store that opens later this year.