Sound Systems for Restaurants, Cafes & Bars in Singapore

Energycon Engineering designs and installs sound systems for F&B venues across Singapore — cafes, restaurants, bars and food courts. We have been doing commercial audio since 2009, and F&B is our largest sector: it is where a sound system either quietly builds the atmosphere your interior designer intended, or audibly gets in the way of it.

Most F&B systems we replace failed for the same reason: consumer speakers driven by a home amplifier, no zoning, no tuning. They were loud near the counter, silent at the back, and dead within two years of twelve-hour days. A commercial system is a different machine — commercial-rated speakers, matrix zoning, DSP, and calibration to the room after installation.

A recent project: four zones at Spice Mahal

At Spice Mahal, a fine-dining restaurant on Beach Road, we installed a four-zone system built on the Powersoft Mezzo 604 A — its internal matrix and Dynamic Music Distribution run all four zones with no external processors. Eight Bose Professional FreeSpace FS3 satellites and two FS3 surface subwoofers carry the dining areas, six FS2CE ceiling speakers fill the remaining zones, and the entire system is operated from a single wall-mounted WM Touch touchscreen — hosts adjust each zone's ambience with one touch, no technical training needed. The install was covered by ProAVL Asia.

What an F&B sound system costs

These are the same figures our online estimator uses, from installed projects. Prices exclude GST.

The full breakdown of what moves the number — zones, ceiling type, paging, alfresco areas — is in our restaurant sound system cost guide.

The hardware we deploy in F&B venues

For background music we most often specify Bose Professional DesignMax and FreeSpace ceiling speakers, with pendant models where the ceiling is exposed. Single-zone rooms run on Yamaha MA-series amplifiers; multi-zone venues get a Yamaha MTX matrix processor or a Powersoft Mezzo platform, with Bluesound Professional network streamers as the music source. We are authorized dealers for Bose Professional, Yamaha Pro Audio and Bluesound Professional — the warranty is backed by the same company that installed the system.

Common questions from F&B owners

Can you install without closing the restaurant?

Yes — this is the norm, not the exception. Cabling and speaker installation happen outside operating hours, including overnight where the landlord requires it, and the changeover to the new system is done before service starts.

Can each area have its own music and volume?

That is exactly what a zoned system does. Dining room, bar, alfresco and private room can each run independent volume — or entirely different sources — and staff control it from a wall panel or phone, not an equipment rack.

Does background music need a licence?

Public-performance licensing in Singapore (COMPASS) is separate from the hardware and is the venue's responsibility. We advise on streaming hardware that works with licensed commercial music services.