Manchester’s Arndale Centre is now home to the largest Roxy Leisure venue, Kingpins. The UK sports brand called on long-standing audio integrator Audioserv to install a zoned and distributed audio system, using Linea Research amplification and Symetrix control.

Audioserv founder and MD, Pete Rollinson, says that Kingpins followed a similar template to its sister venues across the UK, with distributed audio throughout. ‘Having worked on all of the Roxy and Kingpins sites so far, the brief for the audio generally stays very similar,’ he says. ‘There’s no stage, so there is no specific focus for the audio. Some areas will be louder than others, but it must be coherent and sound as good as possible within the spaces that we are working with.’

The system at Kingpins Manchester comprises 8-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch mid/high loudspeakers supported by 12-inch, 15-inch and 18-inch subwoofers in the main areas, with compact, wall-mounted, 4-inch loudspeakers covering the restrooms. To maximise floor space, but also crucially to assist with time alignment, all subs and loudspeakers are flown throughout the zoned venue.

For each loudspeaker used in the venues, Rollinson created preset files that include crossover, EQ and limiting. ‘DSP within the Linea Research amps mean they are so easy to group,’ he explains. ‘It’s just so simple to drag and drop the files into the DSP modules and group the modules, so I’m able to build the venue in the Symmetrix so that its simple for the venue to control.

‘Switching to Linea Research enabled us to halve the space needed for rack amps through the Roxy Leisure estate, while adding more channels of power. I simply introduced Matt and Ben [Jones – brothers and Roxy Leisure founders] to our own amp rack which was running so much more in a smaller space.

‘The switchover was swift because the brand of amplifiers that were used through Roxy Leisure began to fail one by one in some of the earlier venues,’ Rollinson continues. ‘We couldn’t repair them, so they were basically scrap. Over time as they all failed, we changed them over for Linea amplifiers whose service is incredible: really fast and the company is really attentive.

‘We have used Linea Research on so many of our installations now, and all of our rentals are Linea. The amplifiers provide so much functionality that challenges we once had to overcome in the past are now elegantly handled through standard operating procedure. Having comprehensive DSP available on every output means that there are no longer compromises about where DSP resources get used. If we need slightly different EQ or time alignment on one speaker’s amplifier channel in a line covering bowling lanes or batting cages, it’s not a problem.’

‘The quality and continuity of the audio in our venues is really important to us and is something our customers may not really notice because it just works – and that means our customers are happy,’ says Roxy Leisure’s Ben Jones. ‘We have Pete and Audioserv to thank for that and the excellent products he relies on for our venues.’