Thomas's company ETA Sound remains under contract to 02 Arena management AEG, not only to provide auxiliary sound reinforcement for shows taking place in the Docklands complex's premier venues - such as the NHL and NBA events - but site-wide system maintenance and coverage for a raft of smaller events such as press conferences.
The original Millennium Dome and now both 02 Arena and the smaller Indigo2 have end-to-end Harman Pro systems (including JBL Vertec loudspeakers) operating on a CobraNet backbone running HiQnet. The latest addition to ETA's rental fleet has seen further investment both in JBL's premium line array system and Soundcraft's Vi6 and Vi4 digital mixing consoles.
"During the past 10 years I've got to know the people at Harman Pro UK, and now Sound Technology, very well. I felt the time was right to invest, and although I considered and reviewed other brands, we have such a fantastic relationship with Sound Technology that it was pointless looking elsewhere," said Thomas.
In the early part of this year ETA purchased a pair of Soundcraft MH2 analogue mixing consoles and later 16 x JBL 4887 Vertec line array enclosures, with 4881 sub bass cabinets, powered by Crown IT8000 amplifiers - providing the opportunity to cover larger events in conjunction with the existing sound equipment inventory.
Now ETA Sound has added 12 Crown-powered Vertec 4888DP three-way line array loudspeakers, enabling the VT4887s to take on side-fill duties where necessary.
At the same time Thomas has invested in the new generation Soundcraft consoles, with the Studer Vistonics II interface.
(Jim Evans)
