There’s no denying that the past year has brought many challenges to business within the pro audio industry, as well as their end-users.

While towns, cities – and whole countries – around the world have been navigating through their own series of lockdowns, restrictions and social distancing rules, there has been an inevitable uncertainty for those working with the likes of music venues, restaurants and hotels.

However, Martin Audio has not only found a way to help various venues improve their sound systems during the past year, but has actually seen so many requests that they have had to increase production capacity and extend product lines.

Martin Audio recently rolled out a number of new features and upgraded voicing for its CDD (Coaxial Differential Dispersion) series of installation speakers.

The CDD series for installed applications saw its production capacity increased during 2020, while product lines were extended to include transformer variants of the 8” and 10” models. Voicing across the series has also been enhanced yet further.

Production capacity has been achieved through improved sourcing of suppliers, as well as changing the 12” and 15” from their usual UPM Formi cabinet construction to wooden cabinets.

“The 12” and 15” models in particular have always seen capacity constraints so by moving to wooden enclosures, using innovative bended wood techniques, we have not only been able to retain the classic aesthetics of the CDD design and performance, but now have the capability to increase production by tenfold,” explained Martin Audio’s Managing Director, Dom Harter.

“We have witnessed increased requests for additional transformer versions to complement the current 5” and 6” transformer models, as larger scale projects are all about efficiency of the installation, hence the introduction of 8” and 10” transformer variants including weatherised versions.”

Martin Audio has also introduced new DSP settings across the range to bring voicing up to date, along with new FIR-based presets for iKON amplifiers and DX4.0 controllers to enhance the sound quality performance ‘out of the box’.

Houses of Worship

In early 2020, Old Barn Audio (OBA) turned to Martin Audio’s CDD series to overcome a challenging situation at the refurbished St. Joseph’s College Chapel in Ipswich.

The chapel was forced to close for three years when it fell into disrepair, finally being brought back to life after a major revamp costing £750,000. Written into the upgrade programme was the provision for a new sound system

OBA project manager Phil Clark’s first site visit revealed a pyramid shaped building, with no internal walls, and thus no fixing points, and a 60-metre high pitch. His solution was to install three clusters of three CDD8, pointing in each direction and carefully angled to suit the dispersion requirement. Two further CDD8 are positioned either side of the nave, while a slimline SX210 was the perfect dimension to be recessed under the stage, which bears the marble altar.

“As we all know about CDD it is a beautiful, smooth box, with a nice analogue feel to it all wrapped up with a twist of modern technology and crispness! We specify it all the time because it just works.,” said Clark.

Leisure and Hospitality

Later in the year, OBA also turned to Martin Audio’s CCD series when working with the Natural Fit Gym in Tunbridge Wells.

When Natural Fit Gym’s owner Steven Kelly contacted OBA, their first requirement was a state of the art audio system.

“This is the first of what will be a series of upmarket gyms and they wanted the best,” recalled Clark. “We told them straight away that they needed Martin Audio.”

Another condition was that the speakers needed to be discreet. And so OBA opted for the ultra-compact CDD5.

“Even though the CDD5 is the smallest in the CDD range they give great power, clarity and dispersion,” he said. “It’s a high-end solution, and being black, set against a black ceiling the sound source is virtually invisible.”

Clark continued: “Steven Kelly was so impressed with the sound system that he will be running with Martin Audio again at their second venue, which will be in Hove.”

Sound Stage Lighting Live (SSL Live), set up by brothers Elliott and Jack Smith, is another company that fell in love with the signature sound of Martin Audio in 2020.

“We liked the clarity of sound, functionality and ease of deployment. We also liked the reliability — we have since installed 500-600 installation speakers and there has never been a problem,” said the duo.

While their Events subsidiary also purchased a Martin Audio WPC scalable line array pre-lockdown, their installation division has been busy installing a combination of CDD and ADORN series speakers, BlacklineX and ceiling speakers for use in venues ranging from leisure and hospitality to immersive fitness centres.

“From an audio perspective the owners trust us, and once again we have given them the best speakers for the purpose,” they said.

Heading across the pond, in October 2020, Nobu Hotel Chicago found Martin Audio to be the perfect choice for audiovisual and AV low structured cabling.

System design was focused entirely on the guest experience from display screens that come down on mechanical lifts with the touch of an iPad, to audio systems that deliver extremely high-quality sound across the property’s many settings. One of the key elements in this was Martin Audio’s differential dispersion technology to provide even coverage throughout the hotel.

Throughout 2020, Martin Audio also made an impact in Australia, with Brisbane-based property developers, Cavcorp, completing the luxurious 15-storey Le Bain apartment complex in November.

Described as an immersive experience that delivers a sub-tropical poolside lifestyle, it is redolent of the beaches of Southern France. To service this, the developers engaged AV integrators, Ampd, to create a customised, reliable and robust audio visual system. And they turned to Martin Audio’s popular and aesthetically designed CDD series for the audio component.

Commenting on the selection, Ampd’s Matt Hayes, said: “The stylish and discreet design, coupled with the incredibly consistent audio coverage, made the CDD range the perfect option for Le Bain. The feedback from the owners has been great and they are ecstatic with the sound quality and SPL levels that can be achieved.”

Find out more about Martin Audio’s CDD Series