In 2002, after 35 years, the venue finally closed its doors to live music, only to be reopened in August of last year under new management. In addition to improving the Stone Church's dining facilities and decor, the three new co-owners chose to hire regional sound company L. Wynn Sound to come in and completely retrofit the venue's ageing PA system.
Tim Waterhouse, who co-owns L. Wynn Sound with John Woodman, made the decision to install a 24-channel Soundcraft LX7ii console to provide both the FOH and monitor mixes. Although Waterhouse had not previously used an LX7ii, he felt confident in the choice based on his satisfaction with other Soundcraft consoles.
"We've had a Spirit Live 42, Monitor2 and FX16 in our inventory for several years now and they've all performed well for us - so we're Soundcraft guys," he says. "Plus, the Stone Church's previous desk was a Live 42, so the engineers at the venue were familiar with the brand and equally happy with its reliability. Actually, based on the Stone Church's positive experience so far with their new LX7ii, we've added one to our inventory as well. It's a great sounding, high quality board for the money."
With the main performance and dining space complete, the club's managing partners are now currently discussing transforming the building's upstairs room into another live music room. "The space upstairs is even bigger than the main floor room and can probably accommodate up to 250 people," Waterhouse notes. "When they decide to pursue the project, I'm thinking that Soundcraft's new eight-bus GB8 would be perfect. I haven't mixed on one yet, but, again, based on the Soundcraft name, we've recently purchased one to augment a concert series we've booked for the summer. Like I said, we're Soundcraft fans."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
