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PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Clyne Media, Inc.
Tel: (615) 662-1616
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Finnish comedian Sami Hedberg banks on Genelec to elevate sophisticated new events space in Helsinki
Bank 55 goes for gold with Genelec 4000 Series
NATICK, MA, August 15, 2023 — Bank 55 in the beautiful Helsinki district of Lauttasaari is the brainchild of Finnish stand-up comedian and actor Sami Hedberg. Formerly a bank that was first inaugurated in 1955 – hence the name – today Bank 55 is a beautiful sauna and lounge dedicated to private events of all types, from conferences and meetings to corporate get-togethers or simply private parties with friends and family. Music plays a vital role in the new events space, and Hedberg – who was already familiar with Genelec – had no hesitation in specifying custom painted Genelec 4000 series loudspeakers for his new venture.
“I’d been dreaming of opening an events space for some time, but I needed to find the right venue – and that takes time,” confides Hedberg. “I finally came across the old bank premises in Lauttasaari which I loved. I bought it in 2016 and have been renovating it bit by bit, all to my own design, ever since.” Bank 55 can host up to 60 people at any one time across two floors, either as a single group or several smaller gatherings.
Hedberg contacted Genelec, who conducted a site visit with Helsinki-based entertainment electronics experts Haloradio to assess the scope of the project. “I had my own ideas, but Genelec actually came up with lots of interesting suggestions of their own as they really liked the space,” recalls Hedberg. “In fact, it was partly their idea to paint the loudspeakers gold! I was asking about colours generally, and because I have gold in the logo design, they mentioned they’d produced some gold loudspeakers for a restaurant in Sweden. I asked if it had been done in Finland and the answer was no – but now it’s yes, and they look amazing.
“I see Bank 55 as an extremely high-quality venue with lots of beautiful visual elements,” continues Hedberg. “It was important to me that the audio solution matched the quality at every level – both sonically and visually – and that’s exactly where Genelec shines. It was also really important to me that we use a Finnish brand.”
Niko Tynnilä, owner of Haloradio, agrees: “Genelec is a natural choice when high quality sound is required – a Finnish brand with an excellent reputation. Our first priority was sound quality, so no problems on that score. Our second priority was ease of use, as we needed to cater for a majority of users who may only use the systems once for their special event. We opted for a Heos by Denon multiroom system which allows different zones to be grouped together or separated as required, which is extremely flexible – and customers can stream from pretty much any source they like – tablets, smartphones, USB sticks or any other external device. Control is also very easy via the Heos app.”
Tynnilä also notes the ease of deployment from an integrator’s point of view. “Genelec is an ideal choice for installation projects,” he declares. “Thanks to their active design, we don’t have to worry about housing or cabling external amplifiers – which saves time, space and even cost. The connectors are designed for easy installation, there are lots of mounting accessories to choose from, and if you want to customise your installation as Sami [Hedberg] did, there are 120 RAL colours to choose from.”
Haloradio installed a total of ten 4030 loudspeakers, principally in pairs next to the large TV screens in the two downstairs lounge areas and the “office” area upstairs – which offers dining and seating for up to 50 people with its own kitchen, bar and even a wine room that doubles as an exclusive conference area. Four of the powerful 4040 models – one pair upstairs and a second pair downstairs – provide sound reinforcement across the whole area, for a more party-like atmosphere once the day’s work is done.
Hedberg is delighted with the final result. “It’s even more than I hoped for,” he enthuses. “The look, the sound – everything. The upstairs space works perfectly with downstairs, the systems work really well with the TVs and we can zone everything exactly as we please. The customers find it easy to operate, so frankly, I’m thrilled.”
Tynnilä is equally pleased. “This is something of a flagship project for us and we’re delighted it’s gone so well – the collaboration between Sami, Genelec and Haloradio has worked extremely well, and the results speak for themselves. Bank 55 is an absolutely unique place and I have no doubt it will be a huge success.”
For more information, please visit www.genelec.com.
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Photo file 1: Bank55_PR_Image_1.JPG
Photo caption 1: The Bank 55 sauna and lounge in Helsinki, FinlandPhoto file 2: Bank55_PR_Image_2.JPG
Photo caption 2: Bank 55 has installed custom painted Genelec 4000 series loudspeakers.Photo file 3: Bank55_PR_Image_3.JPG
Photo caption 3: Comedian and actor Sami Hedberg, Bank 55’s ownerPDF file: Bank_55_Genelec_Case_Study_FINAL_ENG.pdf
PDF caption: Genelec Bank 55 case studyGenelec, the pioneer in Active Monitoring technology, is celebrating 45 years of designing and manufacturing active loudspeakers for true and accurate sound reproduction. Genelec is credited with promoting the concept of active transducer technology. Since its inception in 1978, Genelec has concentrated its efforts and resources into creating active monitors with unparalleled sonic integrity. The result is an active speaker system that has earned global acclaim for its accurate imaging, extremely high acoustic output from small enclosures, true high-fidelity with low distortion, and deep, rich bass.
Genelec is also celebrating over 15 years of its Smart Active Monitoring™ technology, which allows studio monitors to be networked, configured and calibrated for the user’s specific acoustic environment. Each Smart Active Monitor or subwoofer is equipped with advanced internal DSP circuitry, which tightly integrates with the GLM (Genelec Loudspeaker Manager) software application, running on Mac or PC. GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s acoustic environment to be analyzed, after which GLM’s AutoCal feature optimizes each Smart Active Monitor for level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase and room response equalization, with the option of further fine tuning by the user. By minimizing the room’s influence on the sound, Smart Active Monitors deliver an unrivalled reference, with excellent translation between rooms.
Other brand and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
—For more information on the complete range of Genelec Active Monitoring Systems, contact: Genelec Inc., 7 Tech Circle, Natick, MA 01760. Tel: (508) 652-0900; Fax: (508) 652-0909;
Web: http://www.genelec.com/.