Ministry of Sound upgrades main room with KV2 Audio

[UK] Ministry of Sound has installed a KV2 Audio system in the newly refurbished main room. Back in 2022, technical and production manager at Ministry of Sound, Oscar Zammit, entered into discussions with integration specialist, Louis Jemmott, about the possibility of upgrading the venue’s sound system.

“Oscar and I spoke about what a potential upgrade could look like, and in 2024, these conversations turned into reality,” says Louis Jemmott, now sales director for Patchwork London. “Ministry of Sound were keen to do a complete refurbishment of their main room, The Box. This included the need for a dynamic sound system that would meet the expectations and demands of the club.” As well as club nights, roughly half of the venue’s operations revolve around corporate events, meaning the system needed to accommodate punchy, bass-heavy music while also providing even coverage, intelligibility, and control.

“Myself and Patchwork’s technical manager, Kieran Edmonds, evaluated six different loudspeaker brands,” Jemmott adds. “Due to the shape and size of The Box, it was evident early on that a point-source system would be the ideal solution, leading them to KV2 Audio’s cutting-edge point-source loudspeakers.

“In 2024, Oscar Zammit and his team attended PLASA Show in London, where they were immediately impressed by KV2’s audio demo. After this, KV2 emerged as the clear favourite, so we visited the factory in Czechia with Oscar and Ministry of Sound’s chairman, Lohan Presencer, for a live demonstration with KV2’s Tom Weldon and Jonathan Reece.

We were all absolutely blown away.” Expectations were understandably high for Ministry of Sound’s new upgrades. “KV2 designed the system themselves, giving us a clear framework to work with,” Jemmott explains. “The system consists of three zones; the legendary main room – The Box; the DJ booth; and a VIP area overlooking The Box.

“In the main room, we installed a six-point system with SL412 loudspeakers flown from the ceiling: two at the rear, two in the middle, and two at the front, with low frequency reinforcement now provided by eight new VHD4.21 and six VHD2.16 units.” A major development of the renovations sees an additional VIP deck behind the DJ, increasing capacity and engagement with performing artists.

“For DJ monitoring, two new ESD312 loudspeakers now form part of the new DJ booth supported by four ES1.8. In the VIP area, we installed ESD10 loudspeakers paired with ESD1.12 subwoofers in each corner, as well as four ESD12 loudspeakers along the VIP deck to maximise clarity and definition.” All amplification is taken care of courtesy of KV2’s bespoke electronics housed in three custom designed amp racks.

Alongside the new sound system, the upgrade of The Box included a redesigned dance floor, a modular DJ booth which can be lowered into the crowd, increased capacity, and large-scale lighting and video installations. “During final discussions before the renovations took place, the decision was made to revamp the lighting rig, which led to a last-minute partial redesign of the audio configuration,” he recalls.

“We adapted the original sound system plan in tandem with the lighting design, which led to the six-point system in place now and proving just as successful. Fortunately, we were not delayed by the other on-site work.” In addition to the KV2 loudspeaker installation, Patchwork London also carried out a series of infrastructure upgrades throughout the venue to ensure the entire system performs smoothly.

“We replaced all the BSS Soundweb processors with QSC Q-SYS and added Netgear network switches and touchscreen interfaces to allow users to reroute audio sources to different rooms. button, but also enables audio from other rooms to be streamed back to The Box in the same way.” “This marks a significant moment in our history,” comments Oscar Zammit.