Martin Audio Succeeds with Season-Long MLA Compact Deployment

When the magnificent summer long Foynhagen Festival in Norway adopted Martin Audio’s MLA Compact PA last year, the complaints the event had experienced after experimenting with different systems over the previous four years, suddenly evaporated.

Although the festival site—located in downtown Tønsberg, 90 minutes outside Oslo—is picturesque, overlooking a harbor and bars on one side and residential buildings on the other, noise spillage was one thing the festival didn’t need. And so the event’s PA supplier Spekter A/S invested in a Martin Audio MLA Compact after a system demo had established proof of concept.

Lorry Kristanesen from Atendi A/S, Martin Audio’s Norwegian distributor, confirmed that having established a winning formula last year, the rig again comprised eight MLA Compact per side with four MLX subs across the front in a broadside array. Spekter also supplied 12 x Martin Audio LE100 wedge monitors, all powered by Martin Audio’s MA3.0 amplifiers.

He explained: “Last year MLA overcame the challenge of sound leakage and the offsite sound at the measurement points was reduced by as much as 8dB compared with other systems.

“The independent consultants set a threshold of below 60dB and we were well under this—never above 50-55dB, while reaching 102dB in the audience area itself. In fact, the system was so powerful we didn’t need a delay system.” And with an event running from May right through to September this was vital.

Atendi’s Øystein Wierli and Lorry Kristainsen themselves set the optimizations, programming a ‘hard avoid’ setting from 110 ft. at the back of the venue, ensuring a perfect experience for the 1500 capacity audiences, as well as for the neighboring residents and businesses, whose peace remained undisturbed thanks to the absence of noise pollution.

The promoters, who last year had declared MLA Compact to have been the best sound they had ever experienced at the site, this year booked international acts such as Kool & The Gang and well-known Norwegian artists including Highasakite.

Foynhagen’s chief executive, Jon Terje Johnsen was once again effusive about MLA Compact. “We were hugely impressed with MLA last year, and if anything this year exceeded that, delivering beautifully even coverage for audiences throughout the summer, with zero spillage towards the houses and businesses offsite.”