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Powersoft Unica unites past and present at Czech hospitality venue

Zlaty Strom, a bar, restaurant and music club venue located close to the Charles Bridge, has been a nightlife hotspot in Prague for over thirty years. Its multi-storey interior features restaurant, bar, and lounge spaces, some of which lie partly within the building’s centuries-old cellars.

While visually striking, the layout presents significant challenges for any modern AV installation, particularly one required to shift seamlessly between refined weekday ambience and energetic weekend programming. In a transformation which took two years, the venue sought to move away from its previous identity as a dance club and instead establish a multifunctional environment in which sound plays a central role in shaping the customer experience.

The existing audio system had reached the end of its service life, and a new approach that could support both subtle background sound and high-performance output was required. Precise zoning, with the ability to combine or isolate areas, adjust volume independently, and switch sources according to time of day or operational needs was another key aspect of the brief. Forsound’s system designer Lukas Sekera was engaged to deliver a flexible, modern solution capable of responding to the venue’s evolving operational model.

The historical structure of Zlaty Strom created one of the primary technical challenges. Its segmented spaces and cellar locations complicated the deployment of AV technology and demanded an audio system that could adapt to the venue’s geometry while remaining unobtrusive within its protected interior. All amplifiers needed to be installed in a separate technical environment, with communication across the building.

Powersoft’s Unica platform provided a solution that addressed these constraints. All communication between devices, including audio sources, is handled via Dante, and the Unica amplifiers are redundantly powered via PoE to guarantee continuous online availability. Their power stages are activated only during the operating hours of the relevant venue zones, managed through programmed PLC switching. By coupling Unica with Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution (DMD) and WM Touch panels, Forsound eliminated the need for traditional matrix processors. It also ensured system redundancy and makes future expansion straightforward, something the venue is already preparing for as it renovates further spaces. The result is a scalable, distributed system that can evolve organically without requiring significant reprogramming or additional processing hardware.

The shift to Powersoft technology resolved several limitations of the previous installation, which relied on DSP processors and fixed wired controllers. “With DMD, audio distribution no longer depends on a central matrix, and system control can be achieved through the web interfaces of common smart touch devices”, explains Sekera. “This gives managers and staff more flexibility and enables adjustments to be made directly within individual zones.”

Operational efficiency has also been improved, with Powersoft now offering double the number of channels whilst occupying only a third of the previous rack space, accommodated in the venue’s cramped technical room. The reduced demand on external cooling brings further energy savings. For the integrator, cloud-based monitoring and remote management provide continuous access to operational data.

The set-up is completed with 36 EAW speakers spread across zones throughout the venue in the following configuration: four EAW MKD826 for the dancefloor; ten MKC50 covering adjacent spaces; and two MKC50 as DJ monitors. Four MKD896 are located at the strip, with two EAW MKC50 and two EAW MKC60 in surrounding areas. The entrance and upper restaurant are covered by twelve EAW MKC50.

(Photos: Bauer Hotel Group/Prodance s.r.o.)

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