The Land of the Rising Sun has a long-standing love affair with motorsports. The Suzuka Circuit – home of the Japanese Grand Prix – is one of the most exciting and challenging circuits in the world, and that passion extends across all forms of motor racing. The latest embodiment of this enthusiasm is ARTA Mechanics & Inspirations, a converted warehouse in the Shinkiba area of Tokyo that serves as a hub where visitors can immerse themselves in the complete ARTA brand experience. The installation of Genelec’s 4000 Series loudspeakers throughout the space elevates that experience and underscores ARTA’s commitment to promoting its high values.
ARTA’s journey began in 1997 as a project aimed at nurturing world-class drivers. Born from a collaboration between Japan’s foremost F1 racing driver, Aguri Suzuki, and leading Japanese car parts manufacturer, Autobacs Seven, today ARTA is the largest racing team in Japan. Aside from its racing endeavours, ARTA is also a recognisable brand with a range of high-quality luxury products to its name, including custom cars, watches, and apparel. Indeed, the inception of ARTA Mechanics and Inspirations was a pivotal step in promoting the significance of the brand, offering a showcase for ARTA’s worldview of motorsports.
According to Autobacs Seven’s brand business sales manager, Naoto Oyama, the industrial feel of the warehouse environment, which was offset against luxury products, was the ideal setting to represent the raw but cool image of motorsports. The Genelec loudspeaker system plays a significant role in creating that ambience. “As the name suggests, we are here to inspire our customers, and the atmosphere of the space plays a crucial role in that,” says Oyama. “We consider sound to be one of the most important tools for creating atmosphere, so a high-quality audio system was very important to us. Genelec fulfilled all our criteria, namely premium quality audio, elegant design, ease of installation and ease of use.”
The venue deploys six compact 4020 loudspeakers discreetly distributed throughout the space. Staff can choose from a variety of specially curated playlists to match the mood of the day or the particular event. Genelec’s 4000 Series models are equipped with an ISS power-saving function that automatically detects the absence of an audio signal – putting the loudspeaker into ‘sleep mode’ accordingly – making them extremely easy to operate and more economical to run. Installation was also very straightforward thanks to Genelec’s active design, which means no bulky external amplifiers to house and no extra cabling. The wide variety of mounting accessories also made it easy to position the loudspeakers for optimal performance.
Oyama is very pleased with the results. “What I especially notice when playing background music is that you can hear the sound perfectly no matter where you are in the store – coverage is perfectly consistent throughout. Furthermore, it never interferes with communication in the store, such as conversations with customers, which is crucial in creating a comfortable space. The audio remains clear, detailed and perfectly audible, but it never impinges on conversation. This may seem like an obvious point, but I think it’s amazing!”
Oyama is also a fan of Genelec’s elegant Nordic design and compact dimensions. “The design matches the industrial feel of the store really well, and I like that the loudspeakers are made of recycled aluminium, which feels like a really good fit for us in motorsports. I’m also impressed with the sound we achieve from such compact boxes – collectively, they fill the space with sound and perfectly reproduce the atmosphere of the racetrack.
“At ARTA Mechanics & Inspirations, we believe in ‘things of value’. We have created a worldview of ARTA’s custom cars, apparel, and even carefully crafted sounds. We hope that customers can gather here and enjoy and be inspired by everything we have created around motorsports. I think we’ve achieved that.”
