Some of the changes are due to the particular demands of the Theatre des Westens in Berlin. Lidster comments: "The Theatre des Westens is a grand, four-tier European style opera house with a large, flat stalls area and three very shallow circle areas starting around 15m back from the stage, a conventional loudspeaker installation would struggle to cover this auditorium. By using these two types of line array systems I can get the coverage I require. The Martin W8LCs are in a central cluster above the pros arch, covering a 500-seat gallery area starting about 15m from the stage. I felt I needed something slightly more powerful to cover this seating block and I liked the sound and long-throw capability of the W8LCs which appear suited to this type of coverage and distance. The WSX subs are in the boxes either side of the stage, adding low-end to the system."
Lidster has used the WSX subs before, notably on the current UK tour of Miss Saigon, but this is the first time he has specified Martin Audio's new W8LC compact line array cabinets, having heard them for the first time at a demo at the Brixton Academy. "We're quite fortunate in this instance that we are able to isolate them at the top of the house, covering a specific area which can be controlled in a different way to the rest of the auditorium, because they have a different sound to the Meyer M1D cabinets. I'm very pleased with the W8LC - I also liked the prediction software."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
