Euro Hire was specifically looking for a system to cope with smaller events and theatre tours. Operations manager Jools Warren explained that although their current systems (EAW and Renkus Heinz) were more than adequate, it was sometimes rather a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. "We decided that it would be a good idea to be able to offer our customers the option of a more compact system, so when Shuttlesound proposed Cobra, we were very interested. And then once we'd heard the demo at the Anvil theatre in Basingstoke, it was really just a question of crunching the numbers and sorting out a delivery date!"
Euro Hire invested in a total of six Cobra Top enclosures and six Cobra Subs. The system comprises four of each plus the DSP rack, but Euro Hire decided to go for an extra two of each for increased versatility. Euro Hire's Mervin George said that Cobra was the perfect complement to their existing inventory. "It's a great concept," he said. "It's lightweight, versatile and space saving. Plus it's extremely easily transported and set up so it also saves us time and labour, yet it can cover a 2000-seat theatre with ease. And of course it goes without saying that it sounds fantastic. As a company we are now far more flexible. We don't have to break into our bigger systems for the smaller jobs, and we can save the customer money by using a system that is smaller and lighter, so everybody wins. We're very pleased."
In fact, the company was so impressed that they have gone on to sell a complete system (four tops, four subs and the amp/dsp rack) to PA specialists Disco Sales in Farnborough, run by Gary Milton. Milton does a lot of corporate work for which Cobra is ideally suited. Euro Hire themselves have just completed a six-week UK music tour with their new Cobra system playing venues of up to 2000 capacity, and it will be going out again shortly with R&B legends, the Stylistics, whose hits include ‘You make me feel brand new’ and ‘Betcha By Golly Wow’.
(Lee Baldock)
