Category: Martin Audio

UK – Vache Baroque is an ensemble of musicians with a mission to connect the broadest possible range of people with the power and drama of Baroque music. Its 2026 Festival brought together a programme of music and drama in the grounds of The Vache, a historic estate and manor house in Buckinghamshire with origins dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Fittingly, the estate’s lake provided the backdrop to a Festival built around a ‘water’ theme. Sound for every event was delivered through a sophisticated Martin Audio system, with spatial audio handled by TiMax.

The main show, produced in conjunction with acclaimed theatre company Out Of Chaos, was a semi-operatic production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, underpinned by an atmospheric multi-channel landscape created by Dan Samsa. Further events included a jazz evening; a ‘Water Music‘ concert interspersed with rare recordings by triple BAFTA-winning wildlife recordist Chris Watson; and SPLASH!, a relaxed show mixing scenes from The Tempest with pieces performed by the Vache Baroque Children’s Choir.

“In total we had 54 loudspeaker channels,” begins Simon Honywill, Market Development Manager for Live Sound, Production & Immersive at Martin Audio. “It was a system designed to provide the audience with authentic instrument reinforcement, transparent vocal performances and immersive soundtrack playback.”

For The Tempest, Vache Baroque performed musical pieces that have come to be associated with the play using period instruments – including harpsichord, theorbo, recorders and strings (all using gut instead of modern materials) – alongside Samsa’s soundtrack, inspired by Shakespeare’s line “the isle is full of noises”.

“Dan created this 25-channel soundscape using the orchestra and vocalists – instruments doing unconventional things, strange vocal noises. It was very organic,” says Honywill.

The Water Music themed concert, meanwhile, featured immersive recordings from Watson, one of David Attenborough’s principal sound recordists. “One was a storm at sea, another was a seal colony, and then whales – humpbacks and blues. Quite incredible.”

THE [FLEXPOINT] SPEAKERS SOUND OPEN AND TRANSPARENT, AND THE TRANSIENT RESPONSE IS FANTASTIC.

ALB – Set in the heart of Albania’s vibrant capital, Tirana, Sodah Tirana is a newly opened all-day restaurant and lounge. Throughout the venue, a Martin Audio sound system delivers high-quality, consistent audio – designed, supplied and installed by local integrator, Prosound.

The client brief for the project was to ensure exceptional audio performance and seamless coverage at the modest SPL levels required for the hospitality environment.

“The client was looking for a system that would provide good sound quality and even coverage rather than simply focusing on high SPL,” explains Endrit Veleshnja, Audio System Design & Installation Manager at Prosound. “The system needed to deliver a balanced and enjoyable listening experience at moderate sound pressure levels, while also providing sufficient headroom for busier periods and the overall atmosphere of the venue.”

[THE A80T] OFFERED A VERY GOOD COMBINATION OF SOUND QUALITY, PERFORMANCE AND VALUE.

To achieve this objective, Prosound turned immediately to Martin Audio’s extensive portfolio, ultimately specifying a distributed system based around the Martin Audio ADORN Series paired with SX Series subwoofers.

The venue is arranged across two indoor levels, with the second floor featuring a mezzanine-style layout, alongside a separate outdoor terrace.

On the ground floor, the system comprises six Martin Audio ADORN A80T loudspeakers, supplemented by two SX112 subwoofers. Similarly, the second-floor mezzanine features an identical configuration of six A80T cabinets and two SX112 subwoofers, whilst the outdoor terrace is served by four Martin Audio A55 IP54-rated loudspeakers. Elsewhere in the venue, the restrooms are equipped with Martin Audio C4.8T full-range ceiling speakers.

“The A80T was a particularly suitable choice for the project because it offered a very good combination of sound quality, performance and value,” notes Veleshnja. “The loudspeakers also needed to integrate naturally with the interior design of the venue, which the ADORN Series unobtrusive contemporary design does very well.”

The discreet profile of the Martin Audio subwoofers proved equally important to the brief: “The compact size of the SX112 subwoofers allowed the additional low-frequency support required for the lounge environment without making the system unnecessarily large or visually intrusive.” The system is divided into separate zones, enabling staff to control and adjust sound pressure levels across different areas independently and remotely as the venue transitions throughout the day.

Having delivered on all aspects of the initial brief, the installation has been warmly received by the venue operators. “The client has been very satisfied with the result, particularly with the quality of the Martin Audio products,” Veleshnja concludes. “They were also very pleased with the overall service from system selection and installation through to final commissioning. This project demonstrates how Martin Audio solutions can provide a high-quality, aesthetically appropriate sound system for a hospitality environment without the primary objective being high sound pressure levels.”

US – Pickathon is a highly celebrated, multi-day music and arts festival held annually at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, just outside Portland, Oregon. Known for its intimate, community-driven atmosphere, the festival curates an eclectic line-up spanning indie rock, folk, bluegrass, jazz and global sounds, prioritising artists on the verge of breaking out. This year, Martin Audio Wavefront Precision sound systems, deployed by Cascade Sound, elevated quality, coverage and noise control across all outdoor stages.

Pickathon is famous for its stunning, environmentally sustainable stage designs, which use raw construction timber to create organic structures that blend seamlessly into the surrounding maple and pine forests. But with nearby residential neighbourhoods having rapidly expanded, Martin Audio’s optimisation technology proved central to the festival’s operational priority of mitigating off-site noise.

Every outdoor stage at Pickathon 2026 featured Martin Audio Wavefront Precision products. “It is a homogenous design to provide consistency across the entire site,” explains Simon Honywill, Market Development Manager, Live Sound at Martin Audio. “The whole idea is that the Wavefront Precision quality and sound that people love maximizes audience impact while making sure the neighbours can sleep.”

Joe Lima is Martin Audio’s Product and Application Support Manager who worked alongside Simon Honywill and Cascade Sound to model and optimise the festival arrays. “They are inherently great-sounding loudspeakers,” says Lima. “At Pickathon, with varied topography and environmental challenges, the optimisation capability within our DISPLAY 3 software was a stand-out advantage for even and precise coverage.”

Cascade became the audio supplier to the festival in 2024 having acquired the previous supplier of many years. Their Martin Audio partnership began in 2025. “I was at the point of needing to replace an aging inventory of speakers and so the timing was perfect to bring the WPC to the Paddock Stage,” says Sean Rathbun, owner of Cascade Sound. “That was a smashing success. Then in 2026 there was an opportunity to make a larger purchase of Martin Audio inventory, and so this year we were able to make all three of the larger stages Martin Audio.”

UK – Tramp Health, a longevity-focused members club created by the owners of the iconic UK nightclub Tramp, opened in London’s Mayfair this May. Seeking to deliver uncompromised audio fidelity throughout the high-end wellness space, integrator Evolve Install designed and installed a comprehensive, multizone sound system utilising Martin Audio solutions.

Elliot Patterson of Evolve Install was first introduced to the site last year. “I’ve been working with owner Luca Maggiora on audio projects for easily 20 years,” recalls Patterson. “He showed me the space, and we immediately started putting the plans together.”

The premium multiroom venue required discrete, high-quality audio coverage tailored specifically to each area’s physical and acoustic demands. To meet these requirements, the communal walkways, lounge, and changing rooms were outfitted with Martin Audio’s ADORN ACS-40T shallow ceiling speakers, while the main corridor transitions to the larger, more powerful ADORN ACS-55T models.

[THE A80] IS AN INCREDIBLY VERSATILE CABINET.

In the high-intensity workout zones – specifically the Megaformer Pilates space and the dedicated HIIT room known as Form – high-output ADORN A80 cabinet speakers were specified and installed.

“While the ceiling speakers are perfect for handling the low-profile background music in communal areas, the high-energy classes in the Megaformer and Form rooms naturally demanded more output,” explains Patterson. “The instructors and members need audio with a bit more kick, and the A80 cabinet works exceptionally well for that.”

Patterson has been highly impressed by the performance and versatility of the A80 speakers. “It’s an incredibly versatile cabinet,” he says. “With its eight-inch driver, it delivers excellent power and gives us the flexibility to run low-impedance or 100-volt lines depending on the zone’s configuration. This was my first time deploying them, and they have performed incredibly well.”

To deliver coverage in the main gym floor, Evolve Install installed a further six ADORN A80T cabinets running on a 100V line. “The gym area has a beautifully warm and rich sound,” Patterson notes. “Even with a significant amount of reflective glass throughout the layout, the acoustic treatment on the walls and the heavy sponge flooring help to control the room, resulting in a fantastic acoustic response.”

The installation is set to expand in the near future, with an additional personal training suite currently scheduled to open, which will feature Martin Audio’s Q26 loudspeakers.

“As an installer, I know Martin Audio solutions can be relied upon for any project, and that was certainly the case here,” concludes Patterson. “Tramp Health has a sound system it can be proud of, combining high performance and a discrete aesthetic that perfectly matches its premium identity.”

USA – Windmark Beach Church, set in the coastal community in Port St. Joe, Florida, is a campus plant of Hiland Park Baptist Church, a major Southern Baptist congregation based in nearby Panama City. Originally established as a portable “church in a box” setup, the congregation has transitioned into a dedicated, permanent facility within the WindMark Village Center following an extensive design, fundraising, and build process. To deliver high-performance sound reinforcement for its modern worship services, the new sanctuary has been equipped with a complete Martin Audio system, designed, supplied, and installed by S&L Integration.

The sanctuary itself presented unique acoustic and physical constraints, most notably low ceilings, structural columns, and tight sightlines that required a compact yet powerful point-source approach rather than line arrays.

As Reece Antley, Technical Director at Windmark Beach Church describes: “My biggest concern was during the design phase. With the space we had – lower ceilings, an odd-shaped sanctuary with columns in the middle – I was worried about how it was going to work and how it was going to sound when we finished.”

THE FLEXPOINT FP12 WAS A PERFECT FIT FOR THE SPACE, BOTH IN TERMS OF SIZE AND PERFORMANCE

Gage Helton, Director of Operations at S&L Integration confirms, “The ceiling was a little lower than we would have liked! But this just meant we couldn’t install large boxes, instead requiring speakers that could tuck up high to keep sightlines in check.”

The solution came in the form of Martin Audio’s FlexPoint Series, a premium point source loudspeaker delivering exceptional coverage and sonic performance in a compact, low-profile enclosure. S&L Integration used Martin Audio’s 3D prediction software, DISPLAY3, to model the room, designing an acoustic environment capable of generating a maximum average SPL of up to 100 dBA with even coverage of +/- 2.5 dB throughout the seating area.

The final sanctuary installation comprises a front left/right pair of FlexPoint FP12 cabinets, supplemented by a further pair of FP12s positioned approximately halfway back into the room acting as delays. Low-frequency extension is provided by a pair of flown Martin Audio SXC215 cardioid subwoofers, arranged in an end-fire configuration to steer low-end energy downward and distribute bass evenly throughout the space while keeping unwanted spill off the platform.

“The FlexPoint FP12 was a perfect fit for the space, both in terms of size and performance,” confirms Helton.

The installation has received high praise from church leadership, both for the quality of the sound field and the close collaboration throughout the project.

“I had experience working with S&L years ago in a corporate environment,” says Danny Hatchell, Executive Pastor at Windmark Beach Church. “They had the credentials and the resume to reassure our staff and decision-makers, demonstrating where they’ve successfully done this before. They brought their talent, shared their background experience, and walked us through the entire process. They helped us make wise choices early on that continue to pay dividends today.”

Antley is equally impressed with both the technical outcome and collaboration between integrator and manufacturer: “Originally, I came in thinking about line arrays. That’s where S&L was fantastic – we sat down and discussed what line arrays would actually look like in a room of this size. We couldn’t be happier with the installed Martin Audio FlexPoint solution. Martin Audio came in and tuned the room, offering great ideas that we hadn’t considered. The collaboration between S&L and Martin Audio in delivering the success of this project for our congregation made this my favourite aspect of the entire build process.”

UK – Richhill Methodist Church in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, has recently undergone a major extension, complete with a comprehensive AV upgrade featuring a new Martin Audio sound system supplied and installed by Rea Sound.

The project began in the summer of 2025 following a conversation with Rea Sound Director, Roger McMullan, a contact established through the integrator’s extensive previous work with houses of worship. “They were planning to extend the church and wanted to coincide with a complete audio-visual fit-out, both for the new extension and the church itself,” he recalls.

While the main body of the church remained unchanged, the new extension added a kitchen, a foyer area, and upstairs meeting rooms. With the existing audio equipment around 15 years old, and the church becoming more active with events and a live praise band, the timing was perfect for a unified upgrade.

Following on-site visits and careful development of design proposals, Rea Sound put forward a comprehensive solution centred on the Martin Audio portfolio.

MARTIN AUDIO IS A GO-TO FOR CHURCHES

“Martin Audio is a go-to for churches,” states McMullan. “In a church environment speech intelligibility is the key – the minister, the announcements, the sermon. Martin Audio is great at that. And once you get into live praise with a live band, Martin Audio just handles it all so easily.”

The elegant and simple solution in the church comprises a pair of Martin Audio CDD15 15” Coaxial Differential Dispersion loudspeakers mounted left and right. They are supplemented by a pair of SX210 subwoofers, whose compact design and high output provided the perfect solution for the specific layout of the space.

Aesthetics and visual integration were considered alongside audio performance throughout. “I worked very closely with the architect,” McMullan says. “He loved the design and look of the CDD, and that slimline profile worked well with his plan for aesthetics in that space. Crucially, the sound quality is there right from the front to the back of the church.”

Martin Audio’s DISPLAY software was used to verify the coverage. “I knew the solution would work, it was more of a reassurance,” McMullan notes.

Amplification is provided by Linea Research, a Martin Audio sister brand. Taking advantage of the factory presets supplied for all Martin Audio speaker models, McMullan confirms that “it just works.”

The new foyer also benefits from a Martin Audio solution, comprising ACS-40TS ceiling speakers. The new infrastructure facilitates the seamless relay of main services from the church to different areas around the site, providing the technical team far greater control over the entire building.

“We can relay sound from the church, and they also can conduct meetings independently in the foyer, plus we’ve added Bluetooth connectivity for background music in there,” he explains.

Summing up the successful installation, McMullan concludes: “Everybody loves it. Martin Audio provided a perfect audio solution and it’s a project that has delivered exactly what the church needs now and into the future.”

US – To support dynamic, full-production modern worship services and ensure absolute clarity for spoken-word sermons, Apex Baptist Church in North Carolina has recently undertaken a huge audio upgrade. Thanks to AV integrators, S&L Integrated, the sanctuary has been completely transformed by a Martin Audio WPS Wavefront Precision line array system, delivering a “night and day” upgrade in both audio fidelity and coverage.

“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with Shawn Walden, the Worship Pastor at Apex Baptist,” says Gage Helton, Director of Operations at S&L Integrated. “When they realised their previous audio infrastructure was holding back their worship experience, he reached out to us to design a complete, top-to-bottom system redesign.”

The primary driver for the upgrade was to enhance overall intelligibility and worship engagement. “While the church had grown significantly, the old system just couldn’t keep up,” Helton continues. “Speech clarity was lost due to a lack of coverage, particularly in and under the balcony sections. The upgrade was also designed to remove previous technical barriers to elevate their Sunday morning experience, building a scalable platform that could support future growth and higher-production events.”

Sunday morning worship is the heartbeat of the space, but outside of these services, the sanctuary also hosts special musical events, holiday productions, youth gatherings, and conferences.

“They needed a system that could seamlessly transition between subtle, high-intelligibility spoken word and high-energy, full-spectrum concert-level reinforcement without distortion or fatigue,” notes Helton.

IT IS ONE OF THE EASIEST PA MODELLING PRODUCTS I HAVE USED.

The sanctuary features a large main floor with a deep balcony and highly reflective side walls. “Acoustically, it was a classic house-of-worship puzzle,” Helton describes. “High RT60 reverb times, flutter echo off the side walls and balcony face, and severe acoustic shadowing under and above the balcony.”

UK – The Rex Rooms at 151 on King’s Road marks the return of a legendary nightlife destination in London’s Chelsea. Set on the site of the famous 151 club – celebrated as an exclusive celebrity haunt throughout the 1990s and 2000s – the reimagined venue is the creation of designer and nightlife innovator Marc Jacques Burton.

To complement the venue’s refined avant-garde aesthetic with uncompromising audio performance, specialist integrator Evolve Install designed and installed a premium Martin Audio distributed system.

The venue is split into two distinct spaces: a vibrant main lounge and, concealed behind a secret door, The King’s 1942 Room private venue. Martin Audio’s CDD (Coaxial Differential Dispersion) Series loudspeakers were specified throughout to provide an upmarket, discrete sound solution that delivers exceptional coverage.

THE CDD ENCLOSURES ARE COMPACT YET REMARKABLY POWERFUL

“The CDD enclosures are compact yet remarkably powerful,” explains Elliot Patterson of Evolve Install. “It’s a club environment where guests on the perimeter of the lounge often want the same energy and impact as those on the dancefloor. With the loudspeakers properly time-aligned, the CDD series delivers consistent audio quality, punch, and clarity across the entire space.”

In the main lounge, the primary dancefloor area is served by four Martin Audio CDD8 loudspeakers, supplemented by a pair of Martin Audio SX210 subwoofers to provide tight, powerful low-frequency extension. The DJ booth is equipped with CDD6 models as monitors, while the perimeter seating is covered by a combination of CDD5 compact loudspeakers and ADORN A55 models.

Behind its secret entrance, The King’s 1942 Room features a dedicated system comprising six CDD6s paired with an SX210 subwoofer, with additional CDD5 models providing seamless coverage for the perimeter seating.

The venue operates across two separate audio zones, allowing independent DJ programming in each room.

“The combination of Martin Audio loudspeakers delivers a beautifully balanced, warm audio quality throughout both spaces – it’s high impact, but never intrusive,” Patterson notes. “With careful tuning and speaker placement, The Rex Rooms at 151 has a sound system that caters effortlessly to every guest, every night, and Martin Audio was the perfect solution for this project.”

CAN – This June and July, two of Montreal’s flagship festivals took place back-to-back in the heart of the Canadian city: Les Francos de Montréal, celebrating French-language artists, and the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, renowned for its diverse jazz-focused programme. As a partner of both festivals, L’Équipe Spectra equipped the outdoor stage at each event this year with a Martin Audio WPS Wavefront Precision sound system, optimized by TiMax spatial audio processing.

The popular free-admission stage, which regularly attracts audiences of thousands of people, is known as the Desjardins Stage during Les Francos de Montréal and the Loto-Quebec Club Montréal Stage during the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. It is located at Terrain 66 in the Quartier des Spectacles, at the centre of downtown Montreal.

Given the stage’s proximity to residential and commercial buildings, along with the corresponding strict noise regulations governing the site, Martin Audio’s renowned optimisation capabilities have proven essential.

“One of the key reasons the production team for the festivals were keen on the Wavefront Precision system is because the stages are right in downtown Montreal,” explained Claus Frostell of Canadian distributor, Erikson Pro. “With the optimisation that WPS provides, and also particularly with Martin Audio subwoofers, we’re able to localise the sound very specifically to the audience area.”

“One of the big concerns we have is noise management,” confirms Dan Meier, Senior Technical Coordinator for both festivals. “The city rules are very strict, and we need to keep good relationships with our neighbours. Good coverage, clarity and punch at medium to low volumes is crucial. The Martin Audio PA delivered very well, maximising the audience’s experience within the noise control constraints.”

I REALLY ENJOYED THE TONE OF THE WPS SYSTEM. I FOUND IT VERY MUSICAL COMPARED TO OTHER SYSTEMS.

The deployed PA comprised eight Martin Audio WPS line array elements per side, supplemented with four TORUS T820 constant curvature arrays as front fills and two TORUS T1230 models serving as delays. Low-frequency reinforcement was provided by three SX218 dual 18in subwoofers and six SX118 single 18in subwoofers, all powered by Martin Audio iKON amplifiers.

“We had the three dual 18” subs positioned across the front of the stage in cardioid mode, with one facing backwards and two facing forwards, while three of the single 18” cardioid subs positioned on each side,” Frostell explains. “With this cardioid set-up we were able to reduce SPL to the rear of the stage by around 30dB, and were also able to narrow the coverage so that it is focused primarily on the audience area.”

The entire system was modelled and optimised using Martin Audio DISPLAY 3 software. “For the WPS arrays, we used the Hard Avoid feature for the stage area and optimised the system to concentrate coverage on the audience,” he notes.

Frostell also highlights the consistent sonic performance across the system: “Both WPS and TORUS are extremely clear and well defined, and we’re able to maintain consistent frequency response and level from the front of the audience area right through to the back.”

For the first time, the festivals’ audiences will also experience the benefits of TiMax spatial audio processing, extending the stereo image across a much larger listening area.

“This is the first use of spatial audio at the festivals, but with the reputation of Martin Audio and our own experience, the organisers were happy to explore it,” says Frostell. “Their main concern was that, because they host a lot of guest engineers, they didn’t want excessive spatial movement or localisation that could detract from the engineers’ mixes. We explained that we’re simply enhancing the stereo image across the audience area, and once they understood that, they became very excited about the possibilities.

“Traditionally, a left-right loudspeaker configuration creates a relatively small stereo sweet spot in the centre of the audience,” Frostell continues. “Using TiMax with the WPS system and TORUS front fills, we’re able to expand that stereo image significantly, allowing more of the audience to experience the mix as it was intended. The engineer doesn’t need to do anything differently – they mix as normal, and we simply extend what they are already doing.”

Hugues Bourque is the head Front of House engineer for the Martin Audio-equipped stage at both the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and Francos de Montréal.

“I really enjoyed the tone of the WPS system,” Bourque comments. “I found it very musical compared to other systems. This year the stage featured a wide variety of bands, from standard jazz ensembles requiring a more intricate mix with a grand piano, to really loud and bassy hip-hop artists, all of which sounded great on the Martin Audio system.”

The engineer particularly praises the vocal tone and sub performance, noting the positive feedback from guest engineers. “The mid-range is rich and makes mixing vocals easy,” he says. “That was actually the first comment I had from other engineers: ‘Vocals sounded really great in the Martin Audio PA’. I also found the subs to be articulate and precise – I loved them – and they received plenty of favourable comments from guest engineers.”

Bourque concludes, “We have had bad weather with lots of rain followed by scorching heat, but I never felt it affected the PA. It was a tricky area, but the system provided great coverage and performed very well for the duration of the two festivals.”