When Kevin Mobberley set up his West Midlands-based rental company Stage Audio Services at the beginning of the 1980s, the mainstay of his PA inventory consisted of Martin Audio’s B1, B2 and MH212 ‘Philishave’ components. Now, 35 years on, the company has made the first of several tranches of investment, in the manufacturer’s new MLA platform.

Stage Audio Services at has acquired a substantial MLA Compact rig (including MLX subs) promising that this will be the start of a steady upgrade path into both Martin Audio Multicellular Loudspeaker Array and Differential Dispersion technology (with the DD12).

‘With the outdoor season approaching, we were getting asked increasingly by our clients to investigate MLA,’ Mobberley  explains. ‘The system is coming up on riders and frequently being specified by festival organisers, promoters and production managers, as much for its site containment ability as its sheer power.’

One of these was South West Audio, who wanted the system for the John Peel Stage at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, having experienced the system on the main Pyramid Stage over the past few years.

Mobberley also credits Martin Audio dealer, LMC Audio – and, in particular, Tim Bamber – for heavy promotion of the system in the early stages: ‘Martin Audio was a company with a technical support team that I felt I could work with and form a great relationship with,’ he says. ‘One of the real beauties of MLA is that it is a complete turnkey system – you don’t have to worry about packaging and therefore it is easy for a rental company to manage. It’s good to be back in the Martin Audio family after so many years.’

Stage Audio Works technicians have already attended the three-day MLA certification training course in advance of the season ahead.