Million-pound Music and Recording Facility Features PMC Speakers Throughout

PMC loudspeakers, including a 5.1 TB2S-AII system with a TLES1 subwoofer, an IB1S-AII stereo pair and multiple sets of FB1i speakers with custom DS-001 amplification, have been chosen as the critical listening reference monitors throughout the £1 million music recording and listening facilities at a recently opened, cutting-edge performance arts centre at the University of Wolverhampton.

The opening of the £18 million Performance Hub in Walsall has given a massive boost to the West Midlands as a destination to study drama, the performing arts, and music technology. The four-storey building, part of the University's School of Sport, Performing Arts & Leisure (SSPAL), contains world-class audio recording, editing and music performance facilities on its top floor, including two Macintosh suites with a total of 60 iMacs, 15 music rehearsal and listening rooms, and two recording studios and associated recording areas, one designed for 5.1 recording and mixing, the other designed for stereo work. The studios and rehearsal rooms are all connected to an integrated audio network via CAT6 cable, allowing any of the rehearsal rooms to become live rooms feeding the studios, and everything is designed to the highest standards of acoustic isolation, even the ventilation systems.

PMC monitors feature throughout the music facilities, with a surround-sound array of TB2S-AII speakers in the 5.1 studio, a pair of IB1S-A MkIIs in the stereo studio, and FB1i speakers in the rehearsal and listening rooms.

Andrew Lowe, Music Technician at the University of Wolverhampton, was responsible for the selection of recording equipment and software throughout the top floor of the new building. "The idea was to build a cutting-edge facility offering dance, drama, music, and a new learning centre for the university, so we wanted nothing but the best kit for the studios and listening rooms. We've ended up with a world-class facility, from the air conditioning to the monitors. 

"I've been a fan of PMC speakers for a few years. I needed some speakers for some work here, and began using a pair of the original TB2s, which had been bought for a research project. I was hooked. When we began considering speakers for the Performance Hub, I read up on the TB2s, and realised they had been upgraded to the MkII activated versions. I asked Ian Downs from PMC to come and demo them, and he also brought a pre-production pair of the activated IB1s, the IB1S-A MkIIs, and left them with me to audition.

"I set aside an evening here, turned all the lights off, and spent six hours just listening to my favourite film scores. It sounded so amazing; I knew that these were the speakers we needed. The end result is that if it's about critical listening here, then it involves PMC in some way. It was all part of making this building a success. We want people to walk through the door and be blown away by what's on offer here: a cross-section of some of the best audio recording gear you'll find in studios anywhere."

For more information on the Performance Hub, see: http://www.wlv.ac.uk/theperformancehub