Martin Audio has waded into the controversy surrounding Big Ben’s ‘bongs’, which are currently planned to be silent for as long as four years, while essential repair works take place.
Big Ben, otherwise known as The Great Bell in the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster in London, has sounded on the hour for 157 years; however, the bongs will sound for the final time at midday on Monday 21 August before being disconnected to allow the clock and surrounding tower to be restored, and protect workers from proximity to the sound of the bells over time.
We could replace the bell over the 4-year period with four hangs/stacks of our MLA units and generate the same kind of level and output as Big Ben
Dom Harter
Following uproar from UK citizens, some MPs and the media about the silencing of this iconic national symbol, Martin Audio’s managing director, Dom Harter, has proposed a solution to The Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP. He suggests that the deployment of the company’s MLA loudspeakers would enable the bell sounds to emanate externally to Big Ben while at the same time offering ‘rear rejection’ in order to provide protection for the workers during refurbishments.
Here is the text of Harter’s letter:
Dear Mr Speaker,
My name is Dominic Harter and I am the Managing Director of a UK loudspeaker manufacturer and international exporter – Martin Audio.
We have been listening to the ongoing debate around the silencing of Big Ben with some interest, and believe we have an innovative solution that can enable the bell sounds to emanate external to Big Ben while at the same time offering “rear rejection” so as to provide protection for the workers during refurbishments.
Martin Audio manufactures professional loudspeakers for the entertainment industry. This includes our premium large format MLA system which our customers and partners use to provide the sound for large format concerts and festivals around the world.
One of the features of MLA is that we are able to steer sound accurately; in addition to this we are able to generate very high sound pressure levels in front of the loudspeakers whilst maintaining a dramatic reduction in sound behind them. This is unique to Martin Audio.
Therefore, theoretically, we could replace the bell over the 4-year period with four hangs/stacks of our MLA units and generate the same kind of level and output as Big Ben by playing a recording which could be fired off on the hour by a computer all this whilst maintaining safe working levels around the clock tower.
I look forward to your reply.
Many thanks
Dominic Harter
Martin Audio Managing Director
The company is currently awaiting a response.
