Striking out as a freelance sound engineer, Alex Serb left distribution and integration company Paradigma Teknik quickly made live shows for Bucharest’s Hard Rock Café one of his most important clients.

The Romanian sound engineer was soon back in contact with his former colleagues to indicate that the facility needed a new sound system – and Paradigma wasted no time in recommending a Martin Audio W8VDQ and CDD solution. This they adopted purely on trust and the reputation of previous Martin Audio installations undertaken by the distributors.

‘The owners wanted to change the entire sound system with a new modern set-up and we provided a solution. We sent a technical proposal, taking into consideration the specification put forward by Alex,’ says Paradigma General Manager, Laura Angelescu. She added that the bid had been fiercely competitive, with several other front line speaker manufacturers delivering proposals. At the same time they also offered some lighting equipment and a digital mixing console.

The clients were clear in that they wanted two different PA systems controlled by the same application — one for live and one for ambient sound. In some instances they also wanted the live system subs to be redeployed with the ambient system. The ambient system itself comprises 23 CDD8 (8-inch/1-inch) Coaxial Differential Dispersion loudspeakers, which are distributed throughout the venue. Each speaker is controlled by a single channel from a combination of four-channel Powersoft amplifiers over Dante.

Ror the main live PA system, Paradigma specified eight W8VDQ and four WS218X subwoofers. Four of the W8VDQ are used for the main PA, two are used for side fill and the final two for LR delays. The compact Martin Audio W8VDQ combines line array and differential dispersion technologies to provide an advanced solution to the requirement of even coverage over wide angles and throw distances. It does this by employing a hybrid quad 8-inch LF and MR configuration.

Paradigma Project Manager Daniel Albu says that this hybrid solution ticked all the boxes: ‘There was not enough height for line array speakers, and we agreed that these speakers were the best alternative solution because of the vertical (both near and far) coverage.’ In fact the short throw horizontal dispersion is 120°, narrowing to 100° as the throw increases.

‘CDD is a great series – fabulous quality speakers within a competitive price range,’ adds Angelescu. ‘The coaxial driver structure is extremely well suited for a large range of applications.’