The floor monitors, which are used both on the Paradiso's main stage and its smaller stage upstairs, are rented on a 60-month arrangement - under the same formula that applies to Synco wedges already on long-term hire to six other top Dutch clubs, the Tivoli, Het Paard, the Music Centre Utrecht, O 13, Nighttown and the Milky Way. The monitors were chosen by the club after their regular use there by both Dutch and international bands.
In 2003 the Paradiso - which is housed in a beautiful former church, complete with stained glass windows that overlook the stage - completed a massive refurbishment of its main hall, which included the addition of a second balcony to increase the audience capacity, major improvements to the loading dock and a new High End Systems lighting rig.
But the biggest technical changes have been to the sound system, with TM Audio, APR's sister company in the Ampco / Flashlight Group, replacing the main PA with a Martin Audio line array this summer. Next it was the turn of the monitoring as the Paradiso's technical manager, Milan Jelicic, explains. "We have had a lot of Dutch and international bands, who use Ampco Pro Rent for their tours, coming in here with 15" Synco wedges and side-fills, and they're incredibly popular for their small size and great sound. Other bands have used Synco monitors at festivals and have really liked them. We've also had some television shoots where they use the smaller 12" version, which is great for television because it's so compact. So for us the choice of stage monitoring brand was easy. This used to be quite a difficult house to get a nice sound on stage in the main hall, but with these wedges and sidefills it's not a problem any more."
APR supplied 15 wedges with another for ground-fills and another wedge at the monitor desk position, plus side-fills. The rest of the monitor system comprises Klark Teknik graphic equalisers and a Midas XL250 console. Jelicic concludes: "The new monitors have made a big difference to the experience for both the bands and their monitor engineers, and we can confidently say we now provide truly superb stage sound!"
(Lee Baldock)
