Stylus Productions recently fielded Martin Audio’s MLA loudspeaker array as for American rock band Good Charlotte’s UK tour.

The service company already owned the control/stage packages for the band and for the PA they turned to Martin Audio partners RG Jones Sound Engineering and Capital Sound, working with Simon Honywill in system development and optimisation. They also supplied infrastructure and production management service for the tour.

MLA rigs went into Glasgow Barrowlands, Southampton Guildhall and Brixton Academy, and the PA appeared in various configurations, and with different optimisations to suit the venue – but included MLA/MLX plus MLA Compact and MLA Minis, with DD12s for fill.

Stylus Productions MD,Sam Thomas confirms that the decision to spec MLA was collaborative, but not difficult: ‘We were already huge fans of the system, having toured extensively with MLA Compact in identical venues, so were itching to see what we could achieve with the larger format boxes,’ he says. ‘Some of these venues pose significant acoustic challenges and MLA is the best solution for controlling vertical dispersion and preserving clarity.’

And each of those venues had their own idiosyncrasies to contend with. ‘We have to give much of the credit to System Tech, Simon Honywill, for his outstanding work optimising the system for these spaces,’ Thomas says. ‘Brixton was a particular breakthrough, and many trusted sources commented on the quality of the sound.’

Here they rigged 11 MLA and an MLD Downfill per side, with four MLX per side, in LR stacks, with four MLA Compact as front fill and various MLA Mini, DD12 and DD6 in support. ‘Brixton can sound cavernous and unfocused sometimes but this was upfront and powerful. The result was a combination of a great musical performance, the sound mix, the PA system, and Simon’s optimisation. As for the subs, we had way more headroom than required.’

Reflecting on MLA, Stylus Productions Technical Director Oliver Weeks cites: power, control and ‘transparency: ‘The headroom is astonishing and being able to hard avoid problem surfaces is invaluable,’ he says. ‘The ability to control room reflections from the box and generate consistent coverage up to a boundary are unique hallmarks of MLA.’

The band’s FOH engineer Jim Carmichael, who has worked with Stylus in the past, agrees: ‘Having used MLA in Brixton Academy before I was keen to try it with a full-on rock show for Good Charlotte – and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I don’t usually need raw power but strive for punch and clarity, so the very clean HF of MLA worked really well and everything felt very controlled right down to the very low end.’