First UK Powersoft X Series sale goes to Mungo’s Hi Fi

Glasgow-based reggae and dub specialists, Mungo’s Hi Fi, a well-known Jamaican-style sound system group, has invested in Powersoft’s K Series and X Series technology.

The purchase was made after they made the short journey over the River Clyde to the home of the manufacturer’s UK and Ireland distributor CUK Audio to place the order – the sale of two X8s represented the first of this ‘game-changing’ product in the UK.

Within a dance genre dating back to the ‘50s, dominated by highly competitive self-built sound systems, CUK’s general manager Stuart Cunningham is of the opinion that that Mungo’s Hi Fi are “ahead of everyone else – they are right at the vanguard”. He added: “People can get quite anal about their amps and Powersoft is not only causing a lot of curiosity but is proving particularly popular in the roots and reggae sector.”

The many sound systems that dominate the dub and drum n bass stages on the international festival circuit are characterised by their own signature – in Mungo’s case a raw, stripped back wood finish to a mixture of both branded speakers and self-built scoop bins.

But transporting so much tonnage, they were eager to reduce the power-to-weight ratio of their amplifiers.

Frenchman Jerome Joly, one of the seven who make up the Mungo’s collective, explained: “I was looking at upgrading our amps with something lighter and digital, and much as we like DIY systems we are always on the look-out for new technology. There are lots of sound systems around and they have to be on the cutting edge.

“The music we play is bass heavy and the fact that the K20 packed so much power in just 1U was ideal. Also, we really liked the onboard DSP, whereas with our old analogue amps there was no processing.”

The system is driven five-way, with the X8 assigned to the stereo mid-top enclosures – some of them customised Void Acoustics boxes – and the K20 to the subwoofers. “For the music we play you need headroom, and theoretically this will take 8,000W. Dub music requires sustained bass notes and the amps we have used in the past would sometimes struggle.”

With the summer festival season approaching, Mungo’s Hi Fi will be taking their new Powersoft amps far and wide, including Dimensions/Outlook Festival in Croatia, United Nations of Dub Weekenders (UNOD) in Wales, Dub Camp Festival in France, Uprising Festival in Slovakia and once again the Blues Stage at Glastonbury in the Silver Hayes dance area – designed as a shanty town stage, where they will again work with CUK, whom they praise for the support they have provided.

Joly added: “Powersoft is already causing quite buzz. I speak to a lot of sound techs from the touring world on the circuit who like to see other amps in action.”

Among them are O.B.F. Sound System from France. “They came over to play with us and were asking about Powersoft. The interest is growing rapidly and people are sharing the experience,” he concluded.

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