Standing in the way were the old 'Bertha' sub enclosures, whose heritage dates right back to Richard Long's epochal system at New York's legendary Paradise Garage in the late '70s.
Although the subs had been loaded with Martin Audio 18in drivers during that last upgrade, the end game - according to Martin Audio R&D director, Jason Baird - was to provide a complete active low-end enclosure.
Meanwhile, the Ministry's technical manager Alex Barrand was aware of development work taking place at Martin Audio HQ on a prototype - largely to provide low-end extension for Prodigy front of house engineer Jon Burton - but his interest really went into overdrive when he learnt that an active product would be commercially available in the marketplace.
Jason Baird recalls: "We started the system upgrade with the custom AS118 bass and Wavefront W8C into the club two years ago when discussions about the ASX were under wraps. Once we were able to demonstrate it we took it down to the club for a demo."
Alex Barrand adds: "One unit comfortably outperformed the existing system at the audition. We ensured the crossovers were aligned properly and coupled with the 18's in the AS118's."
Twelve ASX subs, in six stacks, now drive the frequency range down to 30Hz - all connected to the new Martin Audio Control Manager software.
Each ASX is plugged into a hub which interfaces with a laptop, and the Control Manager application allows control and monitoring of all ASX's individually, noting the temperature they are running at and how hard the system is being driven - in real time.
Reviewing the new set-up just two weeks in, Alex Barrand reports that the sound is crystal clear and the crowds have been going wild. "I am delighted to have been in a position to carry out such an impressive upgrade to this heritage system."
(Jim Evans)
