| Crossing The Rubicon | |
Rubicon AS, a sound rental company located in Skjetten, has steadily been increasing its stock of Martin Audio enclosures since last summer, to the point where it is now able to provide adequate coverage for Oslo Spectrum, the main concert venue in Norway. After having run several different brands in their rental stock they entered the world of Martin Audio line array technology by first acquiring ten W8LM and eight W8LC enclosures. This enabled them to undertake several festivals and other events, and to be able to guage a positive response from sound engineers and audiences alike. The ability to cover fairly large venues with as few as four W8LM per side gives Rubicon great flexibility — and since they are able to send out just one technician with a small van, it also makes great economic sense. This spring Rubicon decided to add eight W8LC’s, 12 x WLXGS and four WLX in order to cover much larger venues. The first big test was the Russetreff at Lillehammer, an outdoor event with many high profile national artists. The result was stunning; artists, audience and sound engineers were amazed at the sound quality and excellent coverage. In June this year, by renting more speakers from fellow Martin Audio line array user DM Audio in Sweden, they were able to undertake a concert at the Oslo Spectrum, where Mötley Crüe were the headliners supported by Finnish band Nightwish. FOH engineers representing the different bands were extremely happy with the result; the PA had tremendous power and covered every corner of the hall with a good, balanced sound. In fact many people — both engineers and audience alike — remarked that this was the best sound they had ever heard in Oslo Spectrum … quite an accomplishment for a small company that is about to join the major league. |
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| Cathedral’s Sound of Biblical Proportions | |
After 30 years of planning, Narbo Cathedral in Rogaland, Norway, was completed this April. Local sound rental and installations company PA Compagniet Stavanger collaborated with the Brandsberg-Dahls architects in order to find the best solution, taking both aesthetics and sound quality into consideration. The visible part of the installation consists of two arrays of four Martin Audio W8LM speakers and eight Martin Audio S18 subwoofers — all painted in the same grey finish as the cathedral’s interior. Performers can hear their reference sound from concealed Blackline F12 monitors, while the connecting rooms and hallways are covered by several EM15’s. All speakers are powered by QSC amplification. At the opening, the bishop remarked: “This is a cathedral of far-sighted visions — it is a landmark. It doesn’t get any better than this, neither on the inside nor on the outside.” Everyone is extremely pleased with the sound system; the sound coverage and intelligibility are exceptional. “This is so stunning it could make anyone religious…” the local newspaper wrote! |
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