Martin Audio Delivers Discrete Punch At Lina Stores

Lina Stores, the Soho-founded Italian delicatessen established in 1944 on Brewer Street "to offer the finest Italian produce to hungry Londoners and homesick Italians", has grown to twelve sites, including ten restaurants and a newer Bar Lina concept now present at four locations.

For recent Bar Lina openings in Shoreditch and Manchester, integrator Evolve AV turned to Martin Audio to provide compact, high‑quality systems capable of subtle background playback as well as stronger performance for livelier occasions.

The Shoreditch venue, on Shoreditch High Street, occupies a Grade II‑listed former bank dating to 1868. Evolve AV’s Elliot Patterson came aboard via recommendation. "Showing me around they explained they wanted good coverage and something that was really compact, but could pack a bit of a punch for parties and DJs."

Site constraints heavily influenced the design. "It's quite a big space with very low ceilings and we weren’t really in a position to put things in corners," he continued. "I needed to be careful where I put speakers so they didn't take over."

Patterson quickly settled on Martin Audio CDD6 loudspeakers for the project. "Honestly I didn’t look at any other options," he said. "I knew the CDD6 would give me the excellent coverage and quality sound from the exposed wall positions." Visual sensitivity was equally important in the heritage setting. "Some walls are bare brick, some stone concrete. The CDD6 actually works really well against that - it blends in really well," he added.

Upstairs in Shoreditch, six CDD6 are deployed for the restaurant. Downstairs, Bar Lina’s main cocktail space uses four CDD5 supported by an SX210 subwoofer. "The CDD6 plus SX210 combination gave the space a discrete solution, and really great output - they're a classic match," noted Patterson.

Adjacent former bank vaults now house booth seating and a lounge. "All the doors and gates are still there," he described. This area features six ADORN A55 speakers, while ADORN A40 units serve private dining upstairs as well as corridors and entrances.

System processing and control are handled by an Optimal Audio Zone 8 from Martin Audio’s sister brand within the Focusrite group. Music comes from dedicated players for the restaurant and bar, alongside DJ inputs. £Each area has a local on-wall Optimal Audio ZonePad, but most of the time they're able to simply use iPads for control," said Patterson. In the vaults, the ZonePad’s extra inputs prove useful: "Guests can just Bluetooth or plug in their phone directly to it. They've got their own room, they can play their own music, it's super simple."

After a successful Shoreditch launch, Lina Stores asked Evolve AV to support the new Manchester site on Quay Street. There, eight CDD6 form the restaurant backbone, this time ceiling‑mounted. "It's quite a big room so we needed to get a lot of coverage and again, the CDD6 does it so well," said Patterson. "As opposed to Shoreditch where they’re all wall mounted, in Manchester they're ceiling mounted. We rotated the driver inside and they are all mounted in landscape orientation."

In Manchester's Bar Lina, six CDD6 line the perimeter, supplemented by five Blackline X8 speakers and a pair of SX212 2 x 12" subwoofers to deliver substantial low‑end energy.

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