“Our KV2 gear has never broken down and it's the easiest stuff in the world to use. I spent years programming system controllers in order to get a PA system to sound good – and I'm glad I know how to do it – but I certainly don't miss it. With KV2 I can fire up any of our PA systems and it will sound amazing immediately.”

So says owner and long-time PA engineer Adrian Bamford. For Adrian, using the right tools for the job has always been paramount, no matter what that job might be – and no matter what conventional wisdom might say. Consequently Neath Music are gaining a reputation as a company who always deliver what they promise: fantastic sound for any small- to mid-sized venue…

“I find it astounding when I visit venues who have just spent 50K on a front-of-house system and the tech guys say things like 'the guys from the company have been down a couple of times but we haven't quite got it right yet', or 'we've blown a couple of drivers but tweaking the crossover point has probably sorted it'. I'm sorry guys, but for that kind of money it should sound incredible from day one.”

Neath Music may have started life as a PA retail company, but an unflagging belief in high-quality sound and a penchant for heading off-road where necessary has seen them grow steadily and organically. For Adrian the next natural step was to take that expertise and start a PA hire company to run alongside the established business.

“We’re not a big hire company by any standard – for the most part we work on events of between 1,000 to 3000 people. We cover everything from a solo comedian to musical theatre productions, right through to rock bands.”

“We don't get too hung up on the ‘rider friendly’ rat-race, either. Although we only use high quality gear, certain pieces tend to be somewhat frowned upon by those who claim to be ‘in the know’. KV2 is a good example of this – because it's not line-array, many people reject it out of hand. I work freelance and I've used many line array systems, but I've yet to hear a mid-sized line array that even comes close to our KV2 gear.”

“The first time I heard the KV2 gear was back in 2003 when Andy Austin-Brown, who I knew from his days as technical guru at RCF, turned up on my doorstep one day and said he had an incredible PA that I needed to listen to – and when Andy says something like that, most people in the industry take him seriously! He demo'd the ES system and immediately we decided it was for us. The sound quality was breathtaking, and the small footprint suited us down to the ground. You know, we really couldn't have afforded to make a mistake on that purchase at the time, but to this day it remains the best decision we ever made.”

Working with KV2…

“Apart from the sheer efficiency of setup, KV2 gear allows me and our other sound engineers to sit behind the console during the show and be as creative as we can be – which is why we all signed up to this job in the first place. Instead of fighting for vocal intelligibility or frantically trying to control feedback, with KV2 PA the engineer can relax and enjoy putting his own fairy-dust on to the performance, which, at the end of the day, is what makes live music so much more exciting than listening to a CD.”

“With KV2 PA the sound quality is absolutely superb, the dynamic range is nothing short of shocking, and the output on any given KV2 system is just so much greater than its size would suggest. This means that we can do a 1,000 capacity show in a [Mercedes] Sprinter with a two-man crew. We can load in to a theatre in ten minutes flat; rig the entire PA in 60 minutes – including a six-way monitor mix; deliver sound so good that it leaves the audience visibly stunned (we regularly get mentioned in gig reviews). Then de-rig in 45 minutes… and we're back in the house by midnight.”

“Venues love us because we're so quick and easy to work with, and front-of-house managers love us because there are no sight-line problems that you'd associate with the ‘wall of sound’ PAs that some companies use.”

Bigger, better, stronger…

“So here at Neath Music we’re looking forward to another busy summer. As well as the usual theatre shows and Rock gigs, the next few months are littered with little festivals that are all slowly growing into big festivals. And as a company we're going to continue growing slowly and steadily. The professional side of the business is becoming ever more separate from the retail, so we're in the process of creating 'Clarity Pro Audio', which will be our pro-audio arm with its own website and identity. We'll also continue to fly the KV2 flag as we've always done, and we'll undoubtedly be increasing our inventory!”

Neath Audio’s KV2 gear…

Adrian Bamford: “We have a couple of little EX6s that we use for small applications or as centre-fills for bigger shows, and a small system consisting of two EX2.2 and two EX12 which, believe it or not, will handle rock music in a 400 seat venue. We have two ES systems, each with two ES2.5 and two ES1.0. These are our workhorses; they go into most events because they cover 500 to 1,200 people, depending on program material. We also have a VHD system of eight VHD2.5s and two VHD 2 mid/high enclosures – we bring these out for the big jobs.”

“The gear is pretty versatile, so we use it in various ways. Small function room gigs usually get the little EX system and we'll often use the EX6s dotted around the room to provide fill for any awkward areas, especially when working with a comedian because intelligibility is crucial.”

“We use the ES system the most, probably because of the typical size of venues that we work. It can do a rock band on one night and then completely turn around and do a solo female vocal and acoustic guitar the next – and it will do both jobs to a very high standard.”

“In a theatre setting we'll often use the EX6s as centre-fills at the front of the stage, which works especially well in rock musicals because you need intelligibility of dialogue, but also a gutsy band sound. When the VHD system gets wheeled out, we can use the EX system as on-stage side-fills so the entire inventory is extremely adaptable.”

“It's also worth mentioning that all these systems slice through natural reverb like a knife through butter, so problem rooms are much, much less of a problem than they have been in the past.”