Massive Audio Feature Coming!
Middle aged readers may recall that I spent four years at Max Power magazine as In Car Entertainment editor. Suffering from a deplorable excess of personality, and clearly loving it, I got involved with the videos and live shows that became a thing in the 1990s. Oddly enough, one of the very first videos (which was a VHS tape giveaway actually cover-mounted on Max Power magazine!) is the single most fondly remembered one. It was all about a family who kept Ford Cosworths ‘in the front room’. It was a tiled heated garage, with French windows. I was pretending to have stayed the night, wearing a dressing gown and my teddy bear slippers. The bloody car was 500bhp at the wheels. I was frightened to my roots!
As far as the live shows for Max Power went, I was made MC. Our audience were a boozy unruly lot of youths and I discovered that the public address system my microphone was plugged into, was inadequate. Only the first ten rows in front of me could hear. After a constructive whinge, at the next show I was told that they had hired a full on concert rig. And this came with a sound engineer.
A full account of meeting that man, and what has happened since, is to be found in the upcoming opus, entitled, ‘Ours Goes Down To 11!’ It is the most personal slice of my audio history I have ever written about in my career. It is to do with the Meyer sound system that is on tour with Metallica right now. Massive quadruple stereo-in-the-round, comprising line array enclosures, flown subwoofers plus infrasonic fear register boxes. To be honest, I was totally green after all these years and the learning curve was like slamming into a wall. If you want to get into a big gig, as a ‘˜ligger’ (or hanger-on, press person, anyone without a direct job to do with the show) then the earlier you’re at the venue the better. Do not show up at showtime and say ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ I came very close to doing just that, after I realised that despite my mate Mick organising for me to get, as once before, a day pass as a worker, I really should have asked the venue for permission to use my video camera. To the impressive and immense credit of the PR department, a single email sent mid afternoon on a Friday was replied to within the hour with an official photography and videography pass appended. That was crucial. That printout got me treated seriously by security and resulted in them getting on the radio to nag my contact on the crew, as delegated by Mick, to come fetch me.
Of course being such a massive video edit and article, it has thrown a spanner in the works. I have some delicious unboxing videos, which I will be able to get done today. One is a pair of JL Audio C2-650X coaxial loudspeakers and the other is a box of Alpine goodies.
I have two distinct test rigs in my house for 12V products. One is based on a laboratory power supply made by Diawa, the other relies on a 10 amp marine charger which tickles up a monstrous AGM or Absorbed Glass Mat deep cycle battery which can deliver enough current to drive a 2kW amplifier as well as a head unit for source. The lab power supply nestles in my cunning computer desk. I bought it because of all the cubbyholes and compartments. I have two especially for mounting a head unit and a reference quality Genesis amplifier. You can drive the Bowers and Wilkins LM1 ‘˜Leisure Monitors’ on the top of the desk from the speaker output of the head unit or listen to the signal through the amplifier, by dint of use of quick disconnects on the installed high quality speaker cables. Incidentally I also have a NESA ceiling mount TV screen/DVD player, which is used to test dual zone entertainment systems.
There is an Alpine doubled DIN head unit in that box I think, so I’m going to shut up, go away and beaver through the end of my major three-part ‘˜loudest sound system in the world article’ before playing unboxy vids.
On a more serious note, I have become involved with people working with ex-forces veterans suffering from PTSD. Angling really helps. But it occurred to me after hearing about the hellishness which November 5th and Diwali bring to those sufficiently shellshocked to find the wave fronts from domestic fireworks unbearable, that I may be able to help. I am talking to JVC about noise cancellation technology headphones and I’m going to pursue the shooting sports category to try to source some specialised hearing protection that may prevent that poor sod from hiding, weeping in the cupboard under the stairs again, come New Year’s Eve.
Drive carefully, enjoy your tunes, don’t get nicked.
Adam Rayner On Line Editor