The Box dancefloor at Ministry of Sound nightclub

We’ve got the beat: How Martin Audio brings quality sound to the world’s best nightclubs

The reopening of nightclubs has been music to the ears of the beleaguered Pro Audio business, and brought euphoria to clubbers across the land. Providing the beat has been Martin Audio.

Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, the live event specialist has long been a driving force behind the country’s best sounding clubs.

The award-winning manufacturer brings the same attention to detail to its club systems, as it does its live event solutions. Whatever the challenges offered by a particular space, Martin Audio is able to maximise musicality in a venue, using advanced engineering and design, mathematical modelling and innovative software.

Martin Audio offers a versatile range of speakers perfect for nightclubs, large and small.

For pop-up parties, BlacklineX Powered are the classic go-to option, while its CDD-LIVE range represents a step up the performance ladder, with Class D amplification, artful DSP and Dante Digital Audio networking.

A firm favourite in nightclubs and bars, the passive BlacklineX are compact and portable, while its sibling CDD (Coaxial Differential Dispersion) range utilises point-source speaker design for the widest dispersion and front to back spread.

Recognisable by their distinctive curved enclosures, Martin Audio’s CDD loudspeakers are available in black or white as standard. To match venue décor, cabinets and grilles can also be finished in any RAL colour to order.

For small to medium sized clubs that require a higher SPL, Martin Audio offers TORUS, a constant curvature array that’s ideal for wide coverage in venues with low ceilings. For larger club applications there’s the TH Series.

A cosmetic match for both CDD and BlacklineX lines, the TH has horn-loaded bass and mid-range sections, coupled with an ultra-smooth high-end. It’s a classic ground stack array that looks as good as it sounds. 

A custom Martin Audio speaker stack on the dancefloor at Ministry of Sound
When the legendary Ministry of Sound Club reopened this year, it was a custom Martin Audio club system that brought revellers back to the dancefloor. 

Martin Audio has been responsible for MoS’s audio systems for over a decade. Flagship dancefloor The Box boasts a custom 5-way 6 stack, while Contractor ceiling speakers and Blackline system run throughout the venue.

Eight W8LC Compact Line Array enclosures, distributed in two drops of four, provide coverage at The Bar. Side fills come from four W8LM Mini Line Array boxes; a pair of Blackline S218 distribute sub bass. 

To enable live Dolby Atmos audio in The Box, Martin Audio installed 16 CDD15 speakers into the ceiling, creating a 22-channel sound system.  For the first time, Atmos-encoded sound could be panned anywhere in the room, while maintaining the original stereo bed. Ground-breaking, this first Dolby Atmos club sound system was hailed as revolutionary.

The bar area at Tiger Tiger nightclub London

Martin Audio also provided CDDs to Novus Leisure’s Tiger Tiger West End club (pictured above). The dance floor features four CDD15, four CDD12 and three S218X subs, while LUXE Room has been fitted with six CDD10s. CDD speakers have also found a role in the club’s restaurant area (here CDD10 and a CSX212 sub are on the menu).

One of the most exclusive nightclubs in the world, the Billionaire Porto Cervo, part of the  Billionaire Club family owned by Former F1 team boss and entrepreneur Flavio Briatore, has also specified Martin Audio’s CDD series.

Located on the Costa Esmeralda, this three-floor Villa is known for attracting International DJs and artists, and was the first club in Italy to install the CDD Series. The main dancefloor is served by six CDD10 and two CSX118 subs. In total,18 CDD10 and two CSX118 subs have been installed throughout, covering  two dance rooms, lounge room and restaurant. 

The cavernous dancefloor in the Karova Club in Poland

Clubbers in Warsaw visiting the Karova Club (pictured above) are also benefiting from a CDD and BlacklineX configuration. The 400-capacity venue features two DJ booths with four music zones. Providing coverage throughout are two quartets of CDD12 and CSX118 subwoofers on the main dance floor, with four Blackline X8 and Blackline X210 sub assigned Stage duties.

Further afield is Club Atlantis, a major new multi-million dollar entertainment club in Datong, China.

Clubbers are invited to investigate this mythical backdrop of high energy electronic dance music, played out through a premium Martin Audio WPC (Wavefront Precision Compact) line array, heralding a new era of entertainment.

This super-large high-rise party space boasts a floor height of 15 metres, and covers an area of ​​2,000 sq.m, to showcase the grandeur of this spectacle. Eight sets of high-precision, rib-type robotic arms activate the charm of this surreal space. Together with Martin Audio, every frequency vibration of the sound source is pulsed into the space, creating a flawless immersive party sound field. 

According to recent Chinese surveys, the ‘sound’ element has slowly become a higher proportion of the total investment in sound and light when it comes to club environments. It has become a major trend to move outdoor electronic events indoors, and ‘raving’ has become an indispensable part of Chinese clubbers’ lives. With restrictions om movement outside China – due to the pandemic – the desire for homegrown extravagant entertainment has never been higher.

The world’s busiest nightclubs boast Martin Audio systems. It’s not a coincidence.