Dave Orritt explains: "The spark of Edwards originally came from Loaf in Manchester. We were able to take the best of the Loaf design features and incorporate them into this venue. The difficult issue at Edwards was the venue’s acoustics. A hotel is situated above the venue so we had to pass NR 45 in order to get planning consent. What we have in Edwards is basically a box within a box within a box. To get the sound pressure levels with the quality of dispersion needed, we used multiple clusters of Mackie Monitors 5s and MSW8 subs, which were flown from the ceiling."
Edwards has a harsh industrial quality to it - with cable trays exposed around the building. As a result, the speakers had to be positioned with extreme care to achieve the levels of sound quality required. "When it came to the speakers," explained Orritt, "we tried to ensure that no-one was more than 2.5 metres away from the Monitors. The entire system - 86 Mackie Monitor 5s and 24 MSW8 subs - runs in stereo and is routed through a Soundweb system." For the small dance area, Orritt spec’d EAW speakers (4 x JF29Z mid highs and 4 x FR205 subs).
(Ruth Rossington)
