SSE London
SSE LONDON - SOUND SUPPORT
At the heart of the contract rentals and audio installations business is customer service and support.
As well as spreading the cost of investment in equipment, using SSE London to install and maintain your system means you can relax in the knowledge that your system will remain up to date and meet the changing demands of your clientèle.
Adopting SSE Standards
When the SSE Audio Group took over the portfolio of Tarsin Entertainment in 2006, we were very keen to bring all existing installations up to a common standard, improving reliability and making it very easy swap-out equipment for service or one-off events. Where possible, we have adopted the same standards used by SSE Hire - standards developed over very many years to ensure that line systems always work in the same way.
Most older and unreliable items have been upgraded with more modern, easier to service and more reliable kit. All equipment is barcoded and logged by make model and type as part of our stock control system. This means we can track the purchase and service history of any item and the service engineer can interrogate the system to see what equipment is installed prior to making a site visit, ensuring that appropriate spares are taken to site.
SSE London's team of Service Engineers
Sound Design
To support you fully, it's important that your installation meets the needs of your public spaces and the clientèle that occupies them Sound design is increasingly sophisticated and while we like to to standardise systems, it is not a case of one-size-fits-all. There is a growing demand for 'zoning', within a venue, so vibrant sound is delivered where it is wanted, but equally areas are insulated from the sound where appropriate.
Zone control extends to a personalised experience for customers at Proud Galleries
Refurbishment and Sound Solutions
Two particularly significant refurbishments have been carried out for long-established customers, which illustrate the approach taken by SSE.
Bartok, a smart, chic bar on Chalk Farm Road, Camden, opposite the Roundhouse. Owned by Maurice Power, Bartok has been very successful since it first opened its doors. However late in 2007 the bar received some noise complaints.
Keen to resolve these problems, Maurice asked us to look at the installation and see how it could be reconfigured to eliminate the problems for local residnets while still acheiving the necessary volume and atmosphere in the club.
It was immediately obvious to us that doubling the number of speakers and strategically relocating them would be the ideal solution. So in early December 2007 we installed eight Nexo PS8s and two LS500, removing the original speakers and relocating the amp rack downstairs to solve an overheating problem that ocurred when the bar was full.
Moving the speakers away from fire exits and doorways had the immediate effect of reducing the external noise problems and upgrading to a larger, higher quality speaker such as the PS8 meant that Bartok still maintained the volume and quality they needed.
The London Astoria has hosted a long list of famous and successful rock acts thorugh its long and distinguished history.
One of the first steps SSE did to improve things at the venue was deliver a SSE Main Stage Festival quality Monitor system featuring SSE MB4 wedges, NExo ALpha E Drumfill, Crown amplifiers, SSE Amprack and patch system.
Then in early 2008 the next stage of the upgrade commmenced. The desks were upgraded to a Midas XL4 at FOH and a newer 32 bus Soundcraft Series 5 monitor console.
Sidefills were then also upgraded to Alpha E and the entire control and processing was repackaged into custom built SSE standard racks with new patch panels and mains distribution. We also renewed the FOH patch panels that enables engineers to access the desk patch without getting into the back of the desk, a necessary facility when space is at a premium at your FOH position.
However one of the most important changes was the Balcony system. SSE removed the wall mounted and truss mounted ASS speakers and replaced them with two Nexo Geo S1210 per side to cover the side balconies where the all important VIPs sit and then flew a centre cluster of four Nexo Geo S1230 to cover the central balcony.
This compact and simple solution produced a noticeable improvement in audio quality and coverage on the balcony and removed the need for larger shows to bring in delay hangs.
Read about some of SSE London's recent major installations
Supported by SSE Audio Group
For both these upgrades SSE provided custom-made racks and signal distribution. This is where we are able to support you with the full force of our Group. SSE designs and builds a wide variety of racks and flightcases in-house and we have extensive stocks of hire equipment in our rental company, ready to supplement your installation at short notice.
Read about some of SSE London's Partners
Support through Remote Connections
We are currently installing live remote connections to two venues, which will enable us to log into the venue's audio system processor from our base to diagnose and even fix some faults without making a site visit. If this work proves successful, we plan to make it a standard feature of all our new installations.
