Martin Audio Installations at Lee Valley

We have been working a lot at this London venue and amazing activity centre over recent months. That’s not to say we have been partaking in any of the activities, but we have been carrying out various Martin Audio installations at Lee Valley!

Lee Valley was originally constructed in 2010 at a cost of £31m, as one of the 2012 London Olympics host venues. The centre has now undergone an upgrade to its installed sound system in preparation for hosting the recent ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.

Firstly, OBA fitted Martin Audio’s new CDD series onto the terrace, meeting rooms and meeting room balconies, before providing their own MLA Compact rental system for the six-day Championships that were televised around the world.

Our director Phil Clark quoted to the press “As the Centre moves forward into a standalone commercial entity from its lottery grant funding, it needed a sound system that operates more comprehensively. So Fieke Reijntjes (Lee Valley’s head of corporate services) contacted us to complete this upgrade. Because Martin Audio had launched CDD, with its revolutionary Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology, we thought this high profile venue was a perfect match for this brand new product.”

As the upgrade progressed, Old Barn Audio removed the old amplifiers, processing and two thirds of the speakers. The new system was now been divided into 16 zones, served by 22 amplifier channels using powerful processing. While the signals were transported over a Dante network, they now offer iPad style control from a fixed position at Reception. A further tablet has then been supplied, all on a complete closed audio network, offering the staff complete flexibility to walk around the venue and adjust levels and sources.

OBA then selected five Martin Audio CDD10 (10″ two-way passive loudspeaker systems) that have been spaced under the balcony eaves to serve the terraces. While two independent meeting rooms have also been fitted with a pair of smaller CDD6 (6.5″), positioned near the projectors for background music; a local input has been provided for each room so the users can either choose BGM or local input source, all via a dedicated digital wall panel. Each of these rooms also have a balcony where music can be fed by a pair of Martin Audio CDD8 (8″), linked to both of the internal systems.

We have also provided a cabling infrastructure, to allow three further Martin Audio CSX118 (1 x 18″) subs to be added to the terrace entertainment area. While they will also be specifying further CDD10‘s and CSX118 at the Lee Valley Ice Centre in Leyton, which falls under the same administration.

As impressed with OBA’s professionalism as they were unimpressed by the line array that had been temporarily installed for the 2012 Olympics, the British Canoeing Union (BCU) then requested MLA Compact to run along the course for the six-day long ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships to relay commentary both to the crowds who filled the temporary stands, and live to air.

Having completed these aspects of the Martin Audio installations at Lee Valley, we look forward to the next stages, hopefully not on the ice though!