The company, run by former musicians Ross Sharples and Mark Donovan, have purchased 10 W8LM Mini Line Array enclosures from dealers, LMC Audio, along with two of the new W8LMD Downfill boxes. Sharples confidently predicts that a further six W8LX matched subs will provide the final piece in the jigsaw.
The new Line Array joins an inventory that already includes multiples of Martin Audio W8C/W8S, W2, EM15, W0.5 and WM0.5 (which doubles as a miniature stage monitor) as well as LE400 conventional band monitors.
The equipment services a broad work roster, which aside to the local annual Rhythms of the World Festival, recently included the public enquiry for relatives of the victims of the Tsunami (when the Olympia Auditorium was transformed into the West London Coroner's Court).
Sharples, who set up the company in 1997, says: "We have been with Martin Audio and LMC Audio from day one. Having reinvested the profits from the sale of a previous company to set up the business we asked LMC Audio to arrange a shoot-out of all the proprietary brands. I immediately selected Martin Audio and purchased four stacks of W8C/W8S."As musicians-turned-engineers we tend to make our buying decisions with our ears. And it seems to us that every product Martin Audio bring out has a warmth and quality about it - particularly in the low-mids."
Sharples rationalised that with an upsurge in what he describes as the "man and van" rental market, Rossco needed to rise above the morass - and he knew that line array technology would set him apart. "Fortunately we were able to audition the W8LM in a live situation," he says, and after that the purchase became axiomatic. The Crown-driven boxes are optimised using ViewPoint, Martin's predictive software, while the system is set-up via XTA processing and SMAART technology is used for time alignment.
For Sharples and Donovan the picture is almost complete, they say: "We now have boxes for all occasions allowing plenty of flexibility and reconfigurability - from flown PA's conference-style to a full concert rig."
(Chris Henry)
