JPS EVENTS debut new RCF SUB 9029-AS at Under, Peterborough

The site has become an iconic location for electronic music in the East of England, with a long-standing reputation in the regional scene. Saturday's Mambo night brought a house programme to the site, while Sunday's Unite event ran back-to-back drum and bass, with BBC Radio 1 DJ Charlie Tee and drum and bass artist High Contrast among the names on the weekend's bill.

The location set one major design challenge: a series of concrete pillars positioned either side of the performance area, which ruled out a conventional wide-coverage approach. The system had to be aimed straight down the central axis of the site, between the pillars,keeping the throw on the audience area while avoiding unnecessary energy build-up in the surrounding structure.

Eight SUB 9029-AS subwoofers were configured in an end-fire array to complement this, delivering the cardioid rejection needed to pull low-frequency energy off the stage and keep the on-stage mix clean. The benefit was a tightly focused arrival across the dancefloor, with no energy wasted on the surrounding architecture. Above the stage, the flyover itself acted as a hard concrete ceiling, which the design accounted for during system modelling.

In total, JPS deployed 22 HDL 30-A across the site. Six flew per side on the main hangs, four per side covered the delay positions, and two further cabinets handled centre fill. Eight SUB 9029-AS provided the main low-end in end fire at the stage, with four SUB 9006-AS supporting the delay system to maintain consistent sub coverage across the full footprint.

"We're amazed with the performance of the SUB 9029s — they really helped lift the event, and their low-end coverage and output were noticed by everyone attending the event," said Peter Southee of JPS EVENTS

System control across the weekend ran on RCF's RDNet network management platform. JPS used it for live high-frequency tuning and ongoing fine-tuning as conditions under the flyover changed across each day.

No noise complaints were recorded across either night. Detailed predictive modelling had been carried out in pre-production, with planning meetings used to work through coverage around the pillars and the ceiling before the build went in.

Stage monitoring was drawn from RCF's TT+ Audio range. Four TT 25-CXA covered the front of the stage, with TT 25-A wedges paired with SUB 8004-AS for artist foldback.

Charlie Tee, a well-known voice in the drum and bass scene and a BBC Radio 1 presenter, gave her verdict on the night: "Best sound I've had in ages."