Gandey Productions’ Cirque Surreal is the latest development of the modern all-human circus concept – and has taken the unusual step of specifying and installing a high-quality distributed sound reinforcement system from EM Acoustics. 

The system, designed by Gandey’s Technical Manager Adam Howard, comprises a ring of eight EMS-121w passive full-range speakers, with four smaller EMS-81 frontfills, as well as additional EMS-121 units and EMS-215 subwoofers. All speakers are driven by MC2 E-series amplifiers, and the system is designed to cover 300 degrees of the Big Top. 

The audio inventory has been supplied by Cardiff-based Stage Sound Services – initially as a rental package for a previous production. However, Gandey’s team were impressed enough to buy the equipment outright and add further elements, again provided by Stage Sound Services, for this larger show. The quality of the system has been further underlined by its use by TV company Sky One as part of its new reality TV series, Cirque de Celebrité.  

Adam Howard commented on his choice of system: “As a company we had purchased a smaller rig of EMS-121w and EMS-215 boxes for another of our touring shows. I was impressed by the versatility and the quality/value for money of the range. The majority of the shows Urban Circus produce rely on a pre-recorded soundtrack and a small amount of spoken word reinforcement. I think the EM boxes handled this very well, giving us clarity to the spoken dialogue and plenty of “grunt” at the lower end. We found that the EMS-121w’s gave us excellent coverage of a very wide auditorium, with the EMS-81s providing front fills for “ringside” seats around the edge of the stage. The combination of the two gave us even coverage of the stalls from front to back. Due to the “in the round” auditorium and the corresponding positioning of boxes the whole system was run in mono and for the most part, without delaying boxes. From past experience the tent fabric absorbs more sound than in a traditional venue and the amount of sound “bouncing back” was negligible with the system set up in this way.  

Phil Hurley, Managing Director of Stage Sound Services says “When Adam approached me about a system for Cirque Surreal the EM Boxes where the obvious choice. I have been a big fan of EM Acoustics since Mike Mann (Autograph) introduced them to me two years ago. I love the fact that they are so easy to use without the need for controllers and still sound fantastic. We now hold a stock of fifty boxes that have been used successfully on a wide variety of projects. It’s great to see a young British speaker manufacturer doing so well, they are a great bunch of guys to work with, they are refreshingly passionate about what they do and the support they give their product is second to none. What more could you ask for?” 

The Cirque Surreal tour continues through the UK until the summer, culminating in a 4-week season at Edinburgh’s International Festival in August.