When a formula is deemed to have reached perfection—as is now the case with the technical infrastructure at BST Hyde Park — never assume that it can’t be nuanced, or that an extra bit of power cannot be wrung out of the PA.
Martin Audio and Solotech UK (formerly as Capital Sound) have been permanent incumbents since AEG Presents took over the Hyde Park lease in 2013, and Martin Audio PAs feature site wide.
But this year Solotech were represented by a different system engineer in Rayne Ramsden. And while he was working to the same offsite sound level thresholds (75dBA) as set out by acoustic consultants Vanguardia, he was nevertheless able to squeeze out a couple of extra dB at FOH, giving them a potential of 101dB(A) without breaching offsite limits.
“Rather than simply cut and paste from last year I suggested tilting the delay PAs a degree or two to gain a bit more coverage and an extra 1-2dB out in the field—knowing I could use the ‘Hard Avoid’ [feature in the control software]...
