The Hall's technical manager Gary Malam said that the decision to use Marquee gave him complete confidence, since he had worked closely with the company's MD Spencer Brooks, when the former was supervising the technology at the Reading Hexagon. Furthermore, Rob Whittaker - who recently joined the Shepperton installers - was known to the venue, and he undertook this as his first contract for his new employers. "I was delighted when I arrived to discover that a Turbosound system had been recommended," said Malam. "We always had a good experience with Marquee's work at the Hexagon, and I couldn't have wished for anything better here. We stage a wide range of performance arts and community events and so the system has to be flexible, since we can also remove the stage."
This time four TQ-315 (15" + 2") enclosures, operating two way and flown off the new lighting grid, were specified. These are underpinned by a pair of groundstacked THL-828s, forming the main house system. Thus to ensure coverage of the 360-capacity (seated) and 650 (standing) venue he has made provision for further pairs of TQ-315s to act as front-of-stage fills, along with delays - set midway down the auditorium - and a pair of TXD-121 12" loudspeakers to serve the rear of the hall. There is also a fully-featured stage monitor set-up to suit all types of performers - who will be supplied with a Trantec S4.5 UHF (handheld and Lavalier) radio mic system - with five Turbosound TXD12M floor monitors, a TXD-215 (drum fill) and a pair of TXD-121's as stage fills. The monitor set-up is processed via a Behringer Composer Pro and Multicom Pro.
The whole system is powered by a combination of QSC PowerLight PLX 2402, PLX 1602, PLX 3402 and PLX 3002 amplifiers, with the sound distributed via an Allen & Heath iDR-8 8x8 digital matrix processor. The front-of-house sound is mixed from a 32-channel Allen & Heath ML3000 (with an A&H Mix Wizard 16 in support). Available to sound engineers in the outboard rack are a selection of BSS FCS-966 Opal Constant Q Graphic EQ, Behringer Multicom Pro and Multigate Pro, Yamaha SPX 2000 FX processor and Marantz and Tascam playback devices.
The system fully commissions at the beginning of March in time for a week of events, which opens with Battle of the Bands. "This will be a great occasion for the venue," concludes Malam. "The venue has been closed since 1997 when it was deemed electrically unsafe, and it's great to have been able to restore it to its former glory, stripping off the paint to expose the natural brickwork."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
