Audio Incorporated Purchases Martin Audio Monitors for NY Events

	Photo: Kevin Yatarola for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Audio Incorporated of Roselle Park, New Jersey purchased a complement of Martin Audio XE500 and XE300 wedge monitors, along with SX118 subs for a variety of New York City events starting with this summer's Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival.

Describing his company, owner/founder Mike Sinclair, who goes back a long way with Martin Audio, including a friendship with David Martin, says: "We bill ourselves as a system design, installation, and rental company and we're in the New York marketplace, so we do a lot of special events in the city. We have our share of that and we're glad to be celebrating our 25th year of business this year as well.

"We've done Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night's Swing for 23 of those years and Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Festival for the last 14. We typically have a sound system in Damrosch Park adjoining Lincoln Center from the beginning of summer through the end of August."

Asked about Audio Incorporated's purchase of 16 Martin Audio XE500 and four XE300 wedges along with two SX118 subs, he responds: "It's gotten to the point where we're expanding adding other New York Parks Department shows, so we needed a top line monitor system in addition to everything we have. That sent us on a quest to find an excellent, rider friendly, top of the line monitor system that was not the same as other companies in our area, and Martin Audio prevailed on all of those counts.

"We listened to a lot of monitor wedges, and to our way of thinking and our ears, there is really nothing that sounds better than Martin Audio. And that's always been the case; they've always been the choice, certainly where I come from in England.

"It's been our experience that wedges need to cut through everything else to give the musicians exactly what they need to pitch properly. And what we like about the Martin Audio wedges is that, in the middle of the stage where there's a whole lot of noise going around, they have this ability to cut through for the person standing in front of them.

"Overall, we're seeing a return to monitor wedges from in-ear monitors because the technology has become so advanced as in the Martin Audio XE Series. I think it's more comfortable for musicians to use them as well. IEM's are a bit too isolating; the experience doesn't feel as collaborative and acoustically comfortable onstage. It's harder to make the necessary tonal adjustments as the band plays more cohesively through the set."

Summing up about how the Martin Audio wedges performed the first time out, Sinclair concludes: "They did very well at Lincoln Center over the summer. We didn't have any specific complaints from the artists, which is always a good thing. They are seriously loud, which is what we were aiming for. Other than that, our monitor engineer said they sounded superb. We're very happy with them."

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