And so they suggested Davidson talk to Paul Marston at Black Box London, the largest independent stockist of Cerwin Vega! Intense Series PA systems. He, in turn, alerted them to the imminent arrival in the UK of the new Vision series. Cerwin Vega! is distributed in the UK by Lamba plc but what Davidson hadn't realized is that Lamba also handle the Stanton product range (including Final Scratch).
What he has ended up with is a radical system, designed by Paul Marston, that will give the eventual five-room venue full network and content management capabilities, thus making it one of the most technologically-advanced in the UK. Each of the unique rooms in the current 650-capacity venue will have its own Final Scratch system with three of Stanton's flagship STR8-150 straight tone-arm turntables (described by Davidson as "absolutely superb") in each of the two main dance rooms, fitted with 680HP cartridges.
Part of a progressive development in the city centre venue, Club Euphoria presently has two rooms in operation. Downstairs the sound will be reinforced by four Vision VIS-153s, supported by a pair of EC36 subs, while upstairs they will run eight VIS-153s, underpinned by four VIS-218 subs.
Occupying the ultra-high performance segment of CV's Professional Audio division, the Vision range features five completely new designs specifically aimed at live sound reinforcement and non-engineered sound applications. Club Euphoria initially ran an Intense! rig, on hire from Black Box, but as soon as the new Visions landed they made the swap. Davidson believes the Cerwin Vega!/Stanton combination will put them right on the clubbing map. "This is a whole new concept in clubbing - totally different from anywhere else," he says
Originally built for Luminar Leisure, the venue had been closed for a couple of years before Davidson and partner Phil Hilstone (who previously ran Rewind in Hull) fulfilled their ambition. The venue itself operates all day through the week and runs through until 7a.m. on weekends. Featuring a restaurant/café in a Mediterranean-themed environment by day, Euphoria reverts to a warehouse feel by night, when the restaurant becomes a chillout room and the DJ stations come alive as the operators exchange track data from their Final Scratch set-ups via ASDL lines and a main server.
When fully complete, and the adjacent acquisition developed, the venue will have a combined capacity of up to 1,500 people and include its own music production studios . . . dedicated to Final Scratch.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
