Back in Shoreditch, as the 260-capacity venue - originally opened three years ago - settled into its operating pattern, the inadequacies of the sound system became evident. The Group give high priority to music quality in their venues, and its head of marketing, Brenhan Magee, said that the plan was to coincide the new system upgrade with an acoustic treatment of the room, which saw the installation of a series of acoustic discs lowering the ceiling height.
"Marquee are a highly professional company and the combination of their expertise and the acoustic panelling has made an enormous difference," Magee said. "They have also replaced the DJ desk. It's been a long process but well worthwhile as it will not only bring more people through the door but keep them there."
Marquee project manager Scott Wakelin specified Pioneer CDJ-500S/Technics SL1210 MkII playback for the DJ booth, distributing the playout to the ElectroVoice EVID 6:2s and Turbosound TXD-118/121 via a Cloud Z4 four-zone mixer. Powering the system are Yamaha P5000 and P2500 amplifiers. The two-tier installation also coincided with the venue obtaining a late license, allowing it to trade until 2am Friday and Saturday (1pm Monday through Thursday). "It all happened in the space of a mad couple of weeks," says Brenhan.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
