Fabric London has extended its nearly quarter-century relationship with Martin Audio by announcing a major upgrade to its flagship Room One.
Since installing Martin Audio W8C, Blacklines and WSX subwoofers at the start of the new millennium, the club has gone through several generations of Martin Audio systems while maintaining its premium sound systems, offering its world-class DJs.
But for the most recent refresh, technical director Matt Smith decided to go a different route. Nervous about the prospect of losing what he describes as the “distinctive Room 1 sound”, he asked Martin Audio if they would refurbish the existing 20-year-old W8L line array and fit it with new drivers.
But it was a long road to that decision, and several different brands had to be tested. “Although they all sounded fantastic, it just changed the character of the room,” Smith admits. He was also aware that it was Fabric founder Keith Reilly who had advocated the original switch to Martin Audio, “and that there was something romantic about that system.”
Finally, he consulted with the club’s promoters, DJs and sound engineers, as well as his internal team: “They agreed that we should renovate to maintain the typical Martin Audio sound and preserve this historic installation.”
The installation supported the revitalized mid-tops with a complete end-to-end infrastructure from Martin Audio, including SHX218 2 x 18-inch subwoofers, iKON multi-channel DSP amplifiers, new FlexPoint loudspeakers and XE300 – while also repurposing the Blackline F12s, which provided the DJs’ reference sound in the booth.
The new layout of Room 1 offers the familiar sight of four newly powder-coated W8Ls, two left and right on the stage, paired with converted W8Cs, two left and right at the back.
The eight SHX218 subwoofers were placed in a broadside array under the stage front as the club had decided to go back to a horn hybrid. As these are much larger, the team had to remove the wheels and enlarge the voids under the stage. There are 10 Martin Audio iKON amplifiers, with 9x iK42s driving the majority of the system, while a single iK81 drives the MF/HF for the main enclosures.
The club’s original DSP and networking were entrusted to the Soundweb environment, but the DSP for the sub-array, along with delay times and all presets, have now been transferred to the process-controlled iKONs.
Meanwhile, four of the recently introduced FlexPoint FP12s have replaced the original, custom-built Blackline F12s in the DJ booth, with the latter being used as downfill speakers to the rear “to extend the dance floor a little”. New X15s distribute the sound on the mezzanine level along with two more repurposed Blackline F15s. And finally, four more XE300s are available for evenings with live bands or MCs.”
