Coad chooses PMC & Bryston Simple Minds producer picks PMC monitors & Bryston amp for personal Studio

Date: 2009-12

British Engineer and Producer Jez Coad, best known for producing the last two Simple Minds albums, Black & White and Graffiti Soul, working with mix specialist Bob Clearmountain, has purchased a Bryston 4B SST amplifier from the amplifier company’s UK distributor PMC. The Bryston amp complements the existing PMC IB2S monitor speakers in Coad's London-based personal recording studio, where he writes, mixes and records vocal and guitar overdubs.

"I've had many kinds of monitors in my studios over the years, but never been very happy with the mid-range or the bass on any of them," comments Coad, fresh from recording vocals and guitar at his studio with Simple Minds' Jim Kerr. "Clarity in the mid range is absolutely essential for me, and yet it always seems to suffer on two-way speakers — most seem to have the crossover in exactly the wrong place, unless they're very small. That's why I use Yamaha NS10s, as the crossover on those is very non-standard, but you simply can't tell what's happening down at the low end on those. So I thought I'd try some three-way PMCs — every time I heard a pair in studios, I liked them. Their mid-range drivers sound fantastic, and they make you happy, which is very important for inspiration! About 18 months ago, I tried a pair of IB2Ss in my studio, and really liked them — they're impressive, but don't flatter, and they really tell you what's going on at the low end.”

Coad professes himself a fan of PMC’s patented Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™) which extends the bass response of the cabinet in a highly controlled way, producing a tight, informative low-frequency response where it matters. “Anything fitted with ATL seems to have a really effortless bottom end that doesn't get in the way of what's happening in the rest of the frequency spectrum,” he comments.

The Bryston 4B SST amplifier is a more recent addition, Coad having decided that his monitoring system needed a further tweak. “I often get bored and change things around if I don't feel something is working in my studio, but I’ve stuck with the PMCs. I did feel I wasn't getting the best out of them, though, as I was running them off a top-of-the-range PA amplifier. The guys from PMC recommended the Bryston 4B SST. They offered to bring one down, as I'm a bit of a Luddite and a sceptic in these situations unless I can actually hear the benefit. The difference in warmth and detail was undeniable. They left with a large cheque — I just couldn't bear to see the amplifier go back!

"Now the Bryston is on board, whether I run the PMCs very quietly or really blast them, they're incredibly accurate. They're also the least fatiguing set of speakers I've worked with in this price range, even when I run them loud. I'm very, very pleased with them… I've yet to hear a set of speakers this size that comes close."