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Scotland Yard Soundsystem favors Powersoft

Since its inception in 2015, the Scotland Yard Soundsystem - a south-west England-based collective of builders, engineers, artists and musicians - has grown into an influential presence on UK sound-system culture, using Powersoft K- and X-Series amplifier platforms.

“Scotland Yard Soundsystem is a custom hand-built, DIY/open-source sound system”, comments Jonny Bovill, reflecting on the founding of the system a decade ago. “Aesthetically we wanted to pay homage to classic dub systems that we respected and admired, while under the bonnet we wanted to give it the guts of more modern, powerful point-source systems.”

That combination has proven popular across a mix of events, from intimate basement parties and multi-point dining experiences to 3,500-capacity raves. Throughout it all, Bovill says, Powersoft amplifiers have been central to the system’s evolution. “We’ve been running Powersoft since the conception of the sound system”, he explains. “Initially, we were using some K Series amps as part of a hodgepodge of (different manufacturers’) gear that we managed to put together. But we always aspired to get to a point where we could run fully on Powersoft.”

Bovill upgraded from the legacy K Series to X Series, hired in for a New Year’s Eve show at the 1,600-capacity O2 Academy in Bristol. “I couldn’t get enough K20s for the set-up, so I hired some X Series amps instead”, he shares. “After using and hearing them at that event, I knew I had to get my hands on them.” With X Series now integrated into its workflow, the Scotland Yard team built a modular system that can be scaled up, split or adapted for any configuration.

Bovill credits Powersoft’s ArmoníaPlus (A+) system manager software for making this flexibility possible: “We developed our own speaker presets - EQ, delays, crossovers, limiters - which has saved a lot of time when designing systems for events. We can build the stacks in the A+ workspace, add our amp rack, link the channels and we’re ready with processing all applied to where it needs to go.”

Advanced Groups, he adds, allow for “dynamic system tuning, EQ, delays and alignment”, while ArmoníaPlus’ real-time monitoring tools help Scotland Yard push the limits of its rig: “We actively monitor output, impedance, power draw. This has been very important in allowing us to get the most out of our cabinets and amps, as part of what we do is about really pushing the system and riding that boundary of what the equipment can actually perform.”

Scotland Yard’s cabinets include Hog scoops (subs), SVQ186BPH (kick/low bass) and Limmer 308 mid-tops, along with a Smaart rig for alignment and an Allen & Heath SQ5 mixing desk. A Sage Dub preamp sometimes makes an appearance at more relaxed sessions.

(Photos: Natasha Harniman/Lazyeyesart/Powersoft/Scotland Yard Soundsystem)

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