Headed by the Cypriot duo Linos Melas (President), Tony Lyssiotis (Vice President) with Italian Andrea Piemonti (Managing Director), A.L.A Equipment Co. Ltd has been extremely pro-active in seeking out business all over the island. This has been helped by Harman appointing the company as distributors in 2002, a decision that Nick Owen, Director of Sales EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Crown International Inc., has never regretted: "Since Harman appointed A.L.A back in 2002 we have seen more than a 300% increase in sales."
Although A.L.A is based in the club capital of Ayia Napa, Piemonti lives in Limassol (he initially lived on-site at The Four Seasons Hotel where A.L.A have installed a state-of-the-art digital audio network) allowing him to concentrate his efforts in the area as well as other cities such as the geographical capital Nicosia. The personable Piemonti has created a network of club owners who are happy to deal with the English speaking Italian and who are keen to beat the opposition with the best equipment. It is to Piemonti's credit (and to Owen's satisfaction) that he has created a culture where a majority of club owners are only interested in Harman products. As one of the club owners told me: "I have the best club so I must have the best equipment." And who am I to argue?
Apart from a healthy contingent of the Harman range (JBL, Crown, BSS, Soundcraft and dbx), A.L.A are also the distributors for SGM (Piemonti used to work there) and LA Audio amongst others. This has allowed A.L.A a massive share of the Cypriot market (approximately 90% according to Piemonti) including clubs and bars, touring and hotel installations.
Without doubt, one of A.L.A's strongest selling points is their unequalled service that culminates in their employment of Crown's IQ Network System connecting all their customers to their office mainframe. The IQ Network is a computerised audio system that uses IQ protocol to allow remote control and monitoring from a central location and/or remote locations. The network can perform amplifier control and monitoring, digital signal processing (DSP), automatic mixing, routing, ambient noise system level control, and system and load monitoring - all from A.L.A's headquarters.
This has left some of the most important club owners in Cyprus safe in the knowledge that their systems are constantly being monitored with any problems quickly addressed. mondo*dr visited five venues in Cyprus: Blinkers in Nicosia and Sesto Senso, Whispers, The Auld Triangle and Basement in Limassol. Each club has audio specifications that would make most tour managers green with envy. As Pavlos Hadjicostas, owner of Sesto Senso, the most exclusive club in Limassol remarked: "I know that the Macrotech system I have is better suited to touring, but I want to be part of the Crown network." Sesto Senso has 90kW of amplification and it is by no means a large club.
Nick Owen is obviously delighted wit this state of affairs: "Sesto Senso, The Auld Triangle, Blinkers and the Four Seasons Hotel installations to mention but a few venues are state of the art, with the latest in DSP technology, effects processing, loudspeaker management, diagnostics and audio distribution. Considering there is an indigenous population of only around 500,000 people, not only are the sales astounding but Andrea Piemonti and Tony Lyssiotis have driven the market with quality installations and the latest club technology has to offer. When I talk to Club owners they're proud to say 'I have Macrotech or CTS in my club' - not even 'I have Crown amps'."
Sesto Senso opened on December 5th 2002 and has quickly established itself as THE place to be seen, a far cry from the tourist venues that adorn the Limassol strip. In fact, so popular is the club that it is now a Members Only venue - a place where patrons regularly sip Cristal and there is £1million worth of cars parked outside. The mainstream music for the mature crowd is blasted out of JBL Sound Power speakers, a family of modular loudspeaker systems designed for fixed installation applications ranging from speech reinforcement to large scale music productions, another common thread through the A.L.A Limassol venues.
At the other end of the scale The Auld Triangle is an unashamed tourist trap but with an equally sophisticated audio system - again with an unfeasibly large JBL/Crown combination. Owned by Irish Cypriot Stelios "Steve" Salachoris, the Triangle is located in the basement of the Irish pub The Step Inn, an arrangement that is beneficial for both venues with the pub closing at 2am and the club at 6am. The sound system is massive for the 700 capacity venue but that's the way Steve likes it after the refurbishment in August 2002: "I just felt that I wanted to work with Andrea and A.L.A - even though their tender was four times more than a competitor!"
Basement and Whispers are situated in the heart of the Limassol tourist area - Yermasoyia - and, as such, enjoy riotous nights virtually every night. And that's a situation that both owners are equally pleased aboutÉ for they are brothers. Takis (Basement) and George (Whispers) Christodoulou have been running the clubs for fifteen and twelve years respectively. Both clubs were renovated last year and both men sought the help of A.L.A for the new installation. Both men decided to go with virtually identical sound and lighting systems with Crown MA amplifiers, JBL speakers and 24 SGM Victory 2 Miniscanner and 8 SGM Giotto Spot 250. Brotherly love, eh?
By far the most famous club in Cyprus is Blinkers in Nicosia - after all, if it's good enough for the PresidentÉ. Named after George Best's favourite haunt in Manchester during the 1960s (the owner, Stelios Ktenas, has a Mancunian wife), Blinkers is a remarkable restaurant/club that is packed to the rafters every night. It was operating in various guises for twenty years before Stelios decided to move the venue to a better location with a bigger sound system. A family run business (Stelios' brother in law George Stavrou is the manager), the attention to detail in this venue is a joy to behold. Stelios is a very hands-on owner - he DJ's at the club - and knows exactly what he wants from the sound.
"In the twenty years that the club has been open, I never had the right sound. In the original venue the ceiling was too low and in this one, unfortunately, the previous installer designed the wrong configuration. A.L.A solved all my problems."
In fact, Piemonti has designed a mammoth 120kW Macrotech active system "in case of an emergency" for the 650 capacity, versatile club (live performances and TV shows also take place there). Blinkers was the first venue to be part of the A.L.A's IQ Network and it has very much been the leader of the pack in terms of technology and customer service.
"I feel that I know more than most what people want," explains Stelios. "Everything at the club is geared towards perfect customer service. At no time is either George or myself not present and we have 40 staff, twice the required amount, to ensure that people are catered for. The audio system is a vital part of that customer service. I wanted it to sound perfect for the customers. With Macrotech and A.L.A I know I can achieve that."
A sound judgement indeed.
links: www.harman.com