Powersoft's Unica has helped to bring precise sound to Zlatý Strom, a legendary bar, restaurant and music club venue located close to Prague’s famous Charles Bridge. 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. An intuitive control interface was essential to ensure the system matched the venue’s working practices. For an installation of this complexity, FORSOUND’s system designer Lukáš Sekera was engaged to deliver a flexible, modern solution capable of responding to the venue’s evolving operational model.
The historical structure of Zlatý 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 reliable communication across the building and dependable operational stability throughout the venue’s long service hours.
Powersoft’s Unica platform provided a solution that addressed these constraints directly. 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. This approach not only aligns with the variable nature of Zlatý Strom’s daily operations but also ensures that energy usage remains tightly controlled.
By coupling Unica with Powersoft’s Dynamic Music Distribution (DMD) and WM Touch panels, FORSOUND was able to eliminate the need for traditional matrix processors, despite the complex multi-zone configuration. It also ensured system redundancy and made 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.
images: PRODANCE and Bauer Hotel Group