RG Jones are old hands at providing sound reinforcement for Raymond Gubbay’s Classical Spectaculars at London’s Royal Albert Hall, having been servicing the event for more than a decade. For a recent four-day season they again deployed their full inventory of Synco Martin W8LC Compact line array enclosures in 16-deep hangs either side of the stage.

Experienced sound engineer Simon Honywill had also been on duty at the same event the previous year when the W8LC’s (and W8LM Mini enclosures) had made their debut — and he is in no doubt that the Synco Martin set-up offers the best solution for the type of show which features the wide variation of sound produced by a cast of over 250 performers.

The four-day firework spectacular saw appearances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with Anthony Inglis conducting, the Royal Choral Society, the London Philharmonic Choir, Band of the Welsh Guards and Muskets & Cannon of the Moscow Militia — taking up 96 inputs on the new Digidesign Venue mixing console, which was making its debut.

“Before taking on the Synco Martin system we had been using another rig, 12 boxes a side; but in order to achieve the required vertical coverage we found we had to open it out considerably — and that’s not what it’s all about! With cannons and fireworks, this show is loud, and with 2 x 15 in the low end of the old system there was always an issue controlling the bass in the orchestra.
“However, the horn loaded 12’s of the Synco Martin system fits the picture perfectly because you get really tight, clean low-end control, which is ideal for classical music. We are not dealing with ‘death by kick drum’ here, but we do want people to feel the music.”

The characteristics Simon is looking for in a PA are presence and warmth. “In that respect the W8LC works really well. The directional control in the low frequency range is very good with 16 enclosures a side — and from RG Jones’ point of view the system represents a really good purchase.”

Having worked other orchestral shows with the W8LC Simon Honywill knows the system is ideally specified. “It certainly has the power … and the whole ergonomics and physical profile fit well. It’s sufficiently lightweight and small to enable us to hang ten boxes on a single mast structure in the open air with no problem.” The systems are arrayed for optimum performance using the Martin ViewPoint™ predictive software.

Simon believes that it is Synco’s attention to detail at every stage, right down to the cabling, that makes the system so easy to use and fantastic at what it does.