Becoming the first UK customer for Martin Audio’s MLA Compact System, WE Audio MD Wayne Barker has maintained his long-stading reputation as an early adopter of new technology.

The new system replaces the company’s existing front-line system following discussion with Tim Bamber, who handles technical sales at the Birmingham office of LMC Audio Systems, the Martin Audio dealer: ‘When Wayne initially discussed the possibility of a new loudspeaker system, I believed it had to be a solution that would match the quality of service that WE Audio offers,’ Bamber  says. ‘I knew that an investment in a technology-led, multi-cellular array system such as MLA Compact, as well as giving them a step-up in size and capability, would benefit WE Audio for years to come, and give them a unique place in the pro-audio rental market.’

A subsequent meeting wth Martin Audio MLA advocate Simon Honywill endorsed the recommendation – particularly poignant, as co-director Rylan Machin had studied for his degree in live sound at dBs Music (formerly Deep Blue Sound) in Plymouth, where Honywill and Jim ‘Tiger’ Parsons had been his tutors.

‘Once we started talking to Simon it immediately backed up Tim’s suggestion and made perfect sense to invest in a pioneering new system rather than one that had served its time,’ Rylan confirms.

‘We specialise in providing site public address and noise abatement – and so we needed a system that was musically versatile, with an output that belied its size, and would open up a lot of doors,’ says Barker. ‘We believe that ownership of this system will enable us to undertake more contracts in the sector and become a benchmark for local authority work.’

Having seen MLA’s ability to minimise environmental sound spill at the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, they knew that a system that had been sanctioned by both Westminster Council and noise measurement consultants Vanguardia would be noted by local authorities up and down the country.

LMC Audio has been WE Audio’s ‘go to’ supplier for a number of years: ‘They have provided us with a lot of our kit from digital mixing desks to accessories. The support we receive is phenomenal – they are real deal-makers,’ says Barker.

‘Transacting the complex quarter0million pound deal was challenging – yet the real excitement is still to come, as we witness WE Audio’s deployment of MLA Compact’s unique capabilities across their portfolio of clients and applications, adds LMC Audio MD, Paul Hinkly.

After debuting the MLA system at Hyde Park, it immediately went out to Summer Pops at Buxton Opera House and then onto the high profile Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, where six stacks of four MLA Compact and two DSX subs were groundstacked in a networked ring around the 680m circumference site. It then headed to the Bournemouth Air Festival, where it formed the core of WE Audio’s site-wide public address system.

‘This system is pure black magic,’ Barker says. ‘With it we will now be able to do any type of show – from a small town hall to the Royal Albert Hall. And it’s great to be a Martin Audio partner – in fact, the wheel has turned full circle as it was Pete Skan [Pete Howard] who first introduced me to Martin Audio years ago,  and I’d like to dedicate the purchase of this system to him.’

The sale brings Martin Audio’s UK-based network of Multi-cellular Loudspeaker partners to four.

More: www.weaudio.co.uk
More: www.martin-audio.com