Situated between London’s Kings Cross and The Angel, popular entertainment venue The Lexington has upgraded the sound reinforcement system in its downstairs lounge bar with Martin Audio’s popular new CDD series, which makes use of patented Coaxial Dispersion Driver technology.
Supplied by LMC Audio, the main PA in the American-themed bar comprises four CDD10 mounted on four pillars, firing into the centre. These are supported by a pair of ultra-compact CDD5 that will be used as DJ monitors, and a CSX212 compact subwoofer which is also situated in the DJ booth. Managing and optimising the system is Martin Audio’s dedicated DX0.5 controller.
The venue had decided that an upgrade had been necessary in its downstairs bar. Although a refurbishment had already taken place on both floors of the venue, owner Stacey Thomas sensed the need to invest in the technical infrastructure and realised that a first class sound system was essential to this. It was deemed that the previous PA rig had been too ‘noisy’ and unfocused. They approached LMC Audio and JP Cavaco, their London sales manager, suggested that CDD would provide better definition, with more controlled dispersion, from a more compact speaker. “I knew Martin Audio CDD would satisfy on all points,” he said. “The coaxial design keeps the enclosure size compact and unobtrusive, and the unique CDD technology ensures the audio is consistent across the desired audience space. More than ever the installation market must recognise the need to minimise sound pollution and CDD technology is the perfect tool for this application.”
This assertion was borne out by the system demo conducted by Martin Audio account manager, Richard Van Nairn. The new installation, which will come into its own during club nights, has certainly satisfied the requirements of resident sound engineer, Joe Hawley. “The CDD’s are incredible boxes for their size — sufficiently loud but not too harsh. They deliver a far more focused sound in the centre of the room than the system we had previously, and offer highly controllable dispersion. It gives us the ability to keep the bar area quiet and focus the sound elsewhere as required.”
Joe added: “As we have issues with the low end spilling out of the bar, by having the sub in the booth both the DJ’s and those on the dance floor can really feel the low end; but it is really contained in a small area in order to avoid spillage. As for the DX0.5, this made everything so easy. Although there was no preset for exactly what we wanted to achieve, building a preset specifically for us was easy, and the Martin Audio recommended settings for the CDD series sound great. All we had to do on the DX0.5 was minor level adjustment and limiting on the inputs.”
This level of control also satisfies sound restrictions outside the venue, he concluded: “while inside, a happy bar staff makes for a happy clientele.”
