John Paluska wants his new Berkeley Mexican restaurant Comal to be lively.
It would clash with his image if the restaurant were as quiet as a Carthusian monastery – he was, after all, manager of the rock band Phish for 17 years. But the line between creating a festive atmosphere and making sure diners can hear themselves talk is a fine one for restaurateurs.
It would clash with his image if the restaurant were as quiet as a Carthusian monastery – he was, after all, manager of the rock band Phish for 17 years. But the line between creating a festive atmosphere and making sure diners can hear themselves talk is a fine one for restaurateurs.So Paluska and Meyer Sound, a world-renowned audio engineering company in Berkeley, teamed up to test a relatively new technology that controls reverberation levels with the press of a button. By using a combination of sound absorption materials, microphones, speakers and a digital processor, Paluska can make his restaurant as loud or as soft as he wants.