Layered audio solutions — Optimal Audio and sister brands
When the best system for a venue is not a single-brand system
Introduction
Optimal Audio, Martin Audio, Linea Research and TiMax are all part of the Focusrite Group. For most installations that fact sits in the background — Optimal Audio delivers the complete multi-zone commercial audio solution and nothing more is needed. But for some venues and some project briefs, the best outcome comes from combining what each brand does best.
This guide documents the real scenarios and opportunities where specifiers can combine these products to genuinely solve a problem that a single brand might not. It also brings together technical integration points between the brands that are worth every specifier knowing about — armed with this knowledge, your venue specifications will deliver the best possible solution for every client brief.
The right tool for the right space
Different parts of a venue have fundamentally different audio requirements. A theatre needs a main PA system capable of delivering precise, high-output coverage for a demanding audience. The same theatre’s foyer needs background music across multiple zones, controllable by front-of-house staff from a tablet. A themed bar needs spatial audio that places sound in three dimensions. A large hospitality venue needs amplification that can drive a demanding loudspeaker load reliably night after night.
No single brand covers all of these demands equally well. Collectively they do.
Optimal Audio
Multi-zone background music, zonal control, scheduling and staff interfaces for commercial venues. The complete solution from controller to loudspeaker for the majority of commercial installations.
Martin Audio
Main PA, performance spaces, high-output coverage and precision pattern control for venues where the acoustic performance of the loudspeaker system is the primary brief.
Linea Research
Professional amplification across the full power range. Where a venue demands greater power headroom, a wider range of output configurations, or amplifier performance that goes beyond what the Optimal Audio portfolio provides, Linea Research steps in — with Zone still handling all routing, DSP and control.
TiMax
Spatial audio and object-based processing for immersive experiences. Themed environments, exhibitions, museum installations and experiential hospitality where sound needs to exist in three dimensions and move through a space.
These brands are stronger together. In the right project, specifying across them delivers a result that each brand alone could not — and the venue gets exactly the right solution in exactly the right space.
Real scenarios, genuine rationale
Scenario 1 — Premium loudspeakers within an Optimal Audio system
The challenge:
The venue wants Optimal Audio’s Zone control platform — the WebApp interface, the automated routines, the multi-zone scheduling — but has loudspeaker requirements that the Optimal Audio portfolio does not fully address. Perhaps the aesthetic demands a specific form factor. Perhaps the acoustic environment needs the pattern control of a coaxial design. Perhaps the client simply wants a performance-led loudspeaker brand on the specification.
The solution:
Select loudspeakers from Martin Audio ADORN, CDD and BlacklineQ series are natively supported within Optimal Audio Zone controllers and SmartAmp. DSP presets for these loudspeakers are either recalled or can be created within the Custom Configurator for SmartAmp. The Martin Audio loudspeakers deliver the acoustic performance the venue requires, while the multi-zone system control is fully managed by Optimal Audio’s Zone controller.
What to specify:
Any Zone controller — Zone 4, Zone 4P, Zone 8 or Zone 8P — with select Martin Audio ADORN, CDD or BlacklineQ loudspeakers. Amplification, if required, is via the Optimal Audio SmartAmp or Amp series or Linea Research or indeed Martin Audio depending on load requirements or preferences (see Scenario 2).
Scenario 2 — Premium amplification via Linea Research
The challenge:
The installation requires amplifier performance beyond the Optimal Audio SmartAmp series or Amp series — higher continuous power output, a more demanding loudspeaker load, a larger deployment, or a wider range of output configurations that a particular venue demands.
The solution:
All Linea Research amplifiers provide DSP presets for select Optimal Audio and Martin Audio loudspeakers. The Zone controller still handles all routing, scheduling, WebApp control and the complete system interface — nothing changes at the control layer. Linea Research provides the amplification. The two work together without compromise.
Amplification tiers:
- Optimal Audio SmartAmp series — Built-in amplification for single-zone or small multi-zone installations. Handles the majority of Optimal Audio loudspeakers and smaller Martin Audio models within the supported range.
- Optimal Audio Amp series — The natural step up for larger deployments, higher loudspeaker loads and installations where the SmartAmp series does not have sufficient headroom.
- Linea Research — Professional amplification at any scale, with DSP preset support for select Optimal Audio and Martin Audio loudspeakers. Zone provides the complete control environment above it.
What to specify: Any Zone controller with Linea Research amplification. Loudspeaker choice from the Optimal Audio or Martin Audio portfolio as required.
Scenario 3 — Large venue zonal extension alongside a Martin Audio PA
The challenge:
A large venue — a theatre, a conference centre, a hotel with a main auditorium — where Martin Audio is specified for the primary PA and performance spaces. The foyer, bar, restaurant, back of house and ancillary areas still need audio, but the requirements are fundamentally different: background music, staff control, scheduled routines, and the ability to manage each area independently.
The solution:
Optimal Audio handles the ancillary zones. Martin Audio handles the main PA. The two systems run independently and are controlled separately — there is no technical integration required between them. The value is in the division of labour: the right system in the right space, from the same group, sourced through the same channel relationship where the market supports it.
In some projects this division is also a budget decision. The ancillary areas of a large venue do not need the acoustic precision of the main PA system, and specifying Optimal Audio loudspeakers in foyers, corridors and back-of-house areas at a cost-appropriate price point frees budget for the spaces where Martin Audio performance genuinely matters.
What to specify:
Martin Audio for main PA and performance spaces. Any Zone controller configuration for ancillary zones, with Optimal Audio loudspeakers or Martin Audio loudspeakers via native Zone preset support depending on performance requirements.
Scenario 4 — Immersive audio with TiMax
The challenge:
A themed bar, restaurant, temporary exhibition or museum installation where the audio experience needs to be spatial — sound that moves, places and immerses rather than simply fills a space. TiMax provides the object-based processing and spatial audio engine. The venue still needs a high density of loudspeakers to create that effect, and loudspeaker cost can quickly dominate the project budget.
The solution:
Optimal Audio loudspeakers provide cost-efficient coverage for immersive deployments. Immersive audio typically requires a high density of loudspeakers — the spatial effect depends on having enough sources distributed through the space. The Optimal Audio Cuboid and Up ranges provide the coverage density the deployment needs at a price point that keeps the project viable. TiMax handles the spatial processing. Optimal Audio handles the loudspeaker infrastructure.
What to specify:
TiMax for spatial audio processing. Optimal Audio Cuboid or Up series loudspeakers for coverage deployment. Amplification via the Optimal Audio SmartAmp series, Amp series or Linea Research depending on load.
This might be seen as a niche scenario, but the positive impact of spatial audio on themed hospitality, experiential retail and cultural installations is increasingly hard to ignore.
What is natively supported, and what that means in practice
Within Optimal Audio Zone controllers, DSP presets are available for select loudspeakers from Martin Audio’s ADORN, CDD and BlacklineQ series. When using SmartAmp with the Custom Configurator, more opportunity and flexibility is afforded to the user.
All Linea Research amplifiers provide DSP presets for select Optimal Audio and Martin Audio loudspeakers, ensuring optimised system performance. When combined in an Optimal Audio Zone based system, the recommendation would be to utilise Zone with a straight-line output with no DSP processing, allowing the Linea amplifier to provide a greater level of control.
Finding the right partner for a cross-brand project
Cross-brand projects sometimes involve more than one distributor depending on the market. In some countries a single distributor will manage multiple brands — in those markets the sourcing path is straightforward. In others, the brands are distributed separately and a combined project may involve coordinating across more than one distributor relationship.
The best starting point is to contact our sales team who can best advise on the right approach, or alternatively contact the local Optimal Audio distributor.
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