The Sensible Music Group, a multi-space complex which has provided recording, rehearsal and production services at its London studios for more than 35 years, recently upgraded the monitoring technology in its main studio and rehearsal rooms with MC² Audio power amplifiers.
Sensible Music Group chief engineer/producer Jon Moon contacted Richard Fleming of MC², who made some suggestions and subsequently visited the facility to take measurements and demonstrate some options. Using a pair of Clair bi-amped wedges in one of the smaller spaces, Fleming was able to make the necessary adjustments to demonstrate how the processing of an MC² Delta Series DSP amplifier could emulate a Clair crossover.
Satisfied with the outcomes of the testing and demonstrations, the studio made the decision to invest in six amplifiers. Sensible purchased two Delta 80 DSP amplifiers and two non-DSP versions for the Clair wedges, enabling them power up to eight monitor mixes.
Further, in the main studio, Sensible’s stereo three-way PMC BB5XBD system is now powered by just two amplifiers, a Delta 80 DSP and a non-DSP version, where previously it had required two analog crossovers and six amplifiers. The low end of the system had in the past needed four amplifiers in bridged mode and two for the mid/high.
“We were first introduced to MC² by Hywel Phillipart who does a lot of technical work for us,” Moon says. “Then whilst I was doing front of house at the Glade Stage in Glastonbury last year on a fantastic sounding Funktion One system, it turned out it was powered by MC²! It was there that I was first introduced to Richard, so there was a nice little synergy about that first encounter.
“Initially, we were looking for some amplification for our Clair 12AM monitoring system which had been lying dormant for a period of time. Richard came along and demonstrated how effectively the MC² solution worked for that, which then led us to turn our attention to the main studio monitoring system where we needed to replace the amplifiers. This was a big one because we’ve had an excellent system in there since the mid 90s, which is basically second-to-none.
“Richard again carried out analysis and took detailed measurements. It’s fair to say that because of having 25-plus years experience of listening in that setting, I was pretty meticulous about the whole thing, and worked closely with Richard to see how an MC² solution comprised of just two amplifiers would measure up. We tested the system with one half powered by the existing amplifiers and the other by the MC² Delta Series, which was a really interesting challenge. We spent a day testing and comparing and it was amazing how, with a few tweaks to the DSP, we could get the MC² amps to seamlessly match a 25-year-old system. Incredible, really — it sounds astonishing — quite honestly, I’m blown away!”
