Before staging the popular music festival BBC Electric Proms 09, the Roundhouse in Camden commissioned a new Martin Audio cinema system for its 102-seat Studio Theater.

The venue ordered three Martin Audio Screen 3s as a conventional L/C/R system, eight Effect 3Rs as a cinema surround sound and a Screen Sub1A (1 x 18”) from Autograph Sales.

Purpose-designed for screening rooms, the Screen 3 is a 3-way system, with dedicated mid-range and high frequency sections, while the Effect 3R two-way passive system is a reduced-height enclosure specifically made for screening rooms with low ceilings such as this, to ensure that it can still be optimally installed at the correct level.

Venue technician, Ben Vaughan, said the room has been used for everything from book launches and corporate events, to small theatre and concert presentations. “But while we had an existing technical infrastructure we had always been unable to present cinema.”

The Roundhouse contacted Autograph Sales, with whom they have had a relationship dating back to 1996. “With their assistance we evaluated three different dedicated systems but I specified the Martin Audio solution based on its tonal quality, ease of installation and cost-effectiveness,” says Vaughan. “Also I felt that Martin Audio had the stronger brand name.”

He added, “We have developed the Studio into a flexible space and it was important that we could wheel in the L/C/R/ system on dolly platforms when using the full cinema facilities and reconfigure the room quickly for use as a conventional auditorium.”

Now they have a motorized drop-down, micro-perforated screen, retractable seating, stage drapes and a powerful single-chip DLP HD projector and processor, which enables them to screen all formats, while on the audio side a Violet Audio ADP61 processor allows monitoring and decoding for all signals from stereo to 6.1 surround audio with Dolby Digital and DTS format compatibility.

With eight Effects 3R enclosures offering a left/right rear system, the true 5.1 Martin Audio system is optimized using the dedicated CMX1A cinema controller.

This enables the Roundhouse to provide an educational program that supports workshops in new media, broadcast and all elements of the performing and visual arts — giving young people a chance that they would ordinarily be denied, to make films. “This Martin Audio system has become a core function of that and has enabled us to extend our range,” concludes. Vaughan.

Note to Editors: Martin Audio’s relationship with the Roundhouse extends back at least 40 years. One of Dave Martin’s original systems was installed in the venue at the end of the 1960s before migrating to the new Sundown Theatres at the start of the following decade.

For more information, please call 519.747.5853, email infona@martinaudio.com, or visit www.martin-audio.com.