AV Case Study: Prospect Hotel Motel
A 177-year-old pub in Sydney's west impresses its patrons with a Bose Professional audio system.
1 September 2026
Text:/ Richard Neale
Western Sydney’s Prospect Hotel Motel traces its heritage back to the opening of the Prospect Inn in 1849. Structures have come and gone over the 177 years since the pub first opened its doors, but the mission remains the same: to welcome the local community and travellers seeking quality food and drinks served in a relaxed atmosphere, with value accommodation on site.
The Prospect Hotel Motel is part of the Redcape Hospitality portfolio, comprising more than 50 properties across Australia’s eastern states and Queenstown in New Zealand. The company has a sharp focus on the guest experience. Fun, friendly and entertaining are key words in the Redcape vocabulary.
DEMISEMISEPTCENNIAL
When Redcape management started to form its plans for renovation of the Prospect Hotel Motel’s main bar, bistro, function room and al fresco spaces, getting the audio right was a primary objective.
“When we’re investing in a major renovation of a venue, it doesn’t make sense to leave the old audio system in place, and hope that it will hold up,” explains Cameron Armstrong, Redcape’s Property Projects Manager. “The audio needs to match the standard of everything else we’re upgrading. It’s a critical part of the customer experience. If a guest can’t hear the commentary on a game, or if the music’s too loud to have a conversation, that’s a direct hit on the reason to come to the pub in the first place. You have to get the fundamentals right.”
For the audiovisual aspects of the renovation of Prospect Hotel Motel, Redcape turned to Beyond Audio Visual – veterans of many other Redcape engagements – for the right solution.
Tim Teasdale, Senior Project Manager at Beyond Audio Visual takes up the story: “We’ve been working in Redcape’s properties for years, and we know they are looking for a quality audio solution. The system has to sound great at high volume and low, must provide even coverage, be easy to operate and look good in the space.”
DESIGNED TO THE MAX
Beyond AV chose Bose Professional DesignMax surfacemount speakers for the Prospect Hotel Motel: a mix of DesignMax DM5SE and DesignMax DM6SE full-range coaxial loudspeakers, with DesignMax DM10S-SUB subwoofers to ‘warm up’ the low end. Drive is provided by Bose Professional PowerShareX PSX4804D and PSX2404D adaptable power amplifiers.
Tim: “The raked ceiling in the main bar area and the architectural ceiling treatments in other spaces dictated that surfacemount speakers would be the answer for the Prospect Hotel Motel. We chose the Bose Professional DesignMax family because they look good, are easy to install, come with all the brackets in the box and sound great. We’ve used these Bose Professional products many times before – we know that we can rely on them to deliver for our customers.”
To give even coverage and flexible control of the audio in small zones, the Beyond Audio Visual design called for a large quantity of small speakers. This concept delivers a system that sounds good no matter where you are sitting in the venue – and if you’re right next to one of the speakers, it won’t rattle the fillings in your teeth. The speakers are IP55-rated, so the design approach could be extended into the al fresco spaces. Guests hear the same high quality sound indoors or out.
The Bose Professional PowerShareX amplifiers perfectly complement the DesignMax speakers. The amps contain certified presets to guarantee speaker performance while protecting against abuse. Output flexibility (low impedance or 100V line) and the PowerShare technology (each unit’s total output power can be shared asymmetrically across channels) give designers options for optimising wiring and zoning. And up to 4800W output in 1RU minimises space required in the equipment rack.
During the design and delivery of the AV solution, Beyond Audio Visual was supported by Bose Professional’s Australian authorised distributor, Wesco Anixter. “The team at Wesco Anixter is always great to deal with”, says Tim. “Nothing’s a problem when it comes to product support or project support. We know that they are there for us if we need them.”
HAPPY PUNTERS, HAPPY STAFF
How does it all stack up?
Cameron compares the old audio system with the new Bose Professional system: “You can hear the difference straight away. We have great clarity at low and medium volumes – where the old system was muddy and muffled. And the sound is very even. There are no dead spots, and nowhere that it’s uncomfortably loud. The Bose Professional system has created a vibrant environment that our customers enjoy being in.”
Staff also appreciate the upgrade. Beyond Audio Visual built a Q-SYS-based control system that makes it easy for staff equipped with a portable iPad to call up a start-of-day baseline configuration when first opening the doors in the morning. It’s then quick and simple to re-configure the audio for background music, live bands, trivia nights and private functions across the day. And a single button shuts everything down at closing time.
Happy punters and happy staff point to great future prospects (get it?) for this recently renewed western Sydney institution. 177 years young, and just getting started.
Beyond Audio Visual: beyondav.com.au
Wesco Anixter: wesco.com/proav-apac
RESPONSES