Martin Audio has been chosen as the new front of house system for the ASB Theatre, part of Auckland’s world-class performing arts centre.

The Aotea Arts complex, located in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand, opened in 1990 offering a supreme performing arts centre. The 2,500 seat theatre was designed with particular attention to the acoustics of a large venue. The previously installed front of house audio system did not have the sound quality that international acts demanded and therefore, for some time, the theatre has been hiring in a Martin Audio system for the more critical performances.

Head of Sound & AV, Damon Newton, says, “We have always found the Martin Audio system has offered the true clarity required for our bigger productions. Purchasing a permanent Martin house system is the obvious and natural progression for us.”

He continued, “The Martin sound is unbelievable. It sounded great straight out of the boxes — even before we had done any EQ or adjustments.”

He emphasised that for the majority of the venue’s national and international acts a system was required that had no particular ‘sound’, and was sufficiently neutral to handle opera, ballet and large-scale theatrical presentations. The Martin Wavefront system fits the bill.

The new system was supplied by Auckland’s ACME Audio, whose managing director, Rex Vizible, commented, “We knew from our long term relationship with the Martin brand that the system would sound stunning from the moment we supplied it. The guys at the Aotea Centre were amazed at how good it sounded right from the start.

“The W3’s are a dream to set up, needing very little adjustment for most installations, it’s ‘plug and play’ in the best sense.”

The new system includes 11 Martin W3 3-way active speakers, giving excellent sonic quality at very high SPL’s. There is a group of four W3’s to each side with a cluster of three flown over the front centre of the stage. For bass extension, two Martin WSX monster single 18in sub woofers are used.

Amplification is provided by no fewer than seven of the highly regarded Martin MA2.8’s. These dual 1.4kW amps use patented switch mode power supplies offering excellent speaker driver control whilst offering a lightweight, low heat output design.

Rex Vizible is fully confident that the new system will offer the sound quality that the ASB Theatre has long deserved. “Sound crews are notoriously hard to please but the guys were just blown away by the quality from the word go; the smiling faces just said it all.”

And Martin Audio’s New Zealand distributor, Robert Judd, added, “I’m delighted that Martin Audio is starting to be used in the premium theatres in New Zealand.

“It is very important for our clients to know that we can offer both an outstanding sound system and the ongoing service to match.”