SR/Live Sun, November 23, 2008

Sound Reinforcement/Live Sound | SR News |

Leading Uk Hire Company Buys Into APB-DynaSonics

Summary

  • Ray Lowton Of West-London Based Conference Hire Company SPS Purchases APB Spectra Consoles & ProRack House Mixers

    London, England––Completing what had become a personal odyssey, Ray Lowton, head of sound for Show Presentation Services in West London recently purchased three high perform-ance Spectra 24 channel consoles and five of the small-format ProRack House consoles––designed and manufactured by US masters of the analog desk: APB-DynaSonics.

KV2 Audio’s Andy Simmons and Ray Lowton, head of sound at SPS, pictured with a small-format APB ProRack House console and an APB Spectra 24channel console.

Asked about the purchase, Lowton explains, “Finding a reasonably-priced, good-quality analog desk has been an interesting process. The discovery of APB was hard won and now we will con-tinue to buy into the brand––particularly the ProRack House mixer which I see becoming a great workhorse desk due to its size––which packs a lot of facilities, and the audio quality.”

SPS is a leading live event agency, based in the UK and operating throughout Europe. Their cli-ents are companies operating in financial services and telecoms; marketing and advertising; through to manufacturing and entertainment. They provide expert advice on all aspects of video staging and production, sound, lighting, IT systems, audience interaction and presenta-tion techniques.

Neither Luddite nor stranger to change, Ray Lowton has witnessed and embraced the progress of audio technology since he first started over 40 years ago: “The industry has sort of been in-vented around us all in a way: when I started pa systems were very much in their infancy!”

Yet he will use analog for a long time to come: “I’m not anti-digital but I am ‘pro’ audio and still very much a fan of analog systems because they generally give a warmer sound, you sometimes get the impression that people are blinded by gadgets and they don’t actually use their ears!”

His odyssey eventually culminated at last year’s ProLight + Sound exhibition in Frankfurt: “I went specifically to look for a desk to replace existing stock that were reaching the end of their working life. A lot of what we do is very quick build, one-off events, so I wanted a simple sys-tem – and the simplest thing in the world is to use an analogue board in the right way.

“All I could find in the required price range were digital desks. Finally, just before I was about to leave for the airport, in desperation I asked someone, who pointed me towards APB.

“As soon as the headphones were on I just knew it’s a quality thing! The Spectra series and the ProRack House are great desks – as you’d expect from such a well known and respected R&D team with the pedigree to match”
The award-winning Spectra series analogue consoles from APB-DynaSonics are designed to of-fer truly exceptional sound quality. The VCA-based models are available with 24, 32, 40, 48 and 56 mono input channels and feature four additional stereo line-input channels.
The APB ProRack’s audio design is based on the Spectra Series and includes the use of minimum phase-shift circuitry, expressive EQ and integrated mic preamplifiers. The wealth of profes-sional features and exceptional performance is eased into a small-format 10-rack space. The chassis design features an adjustable connector assembly that freely rotates and can be set to three different angles relative to the front panel.