The Isle of Man government's Department of Tourism & Leisure has invested £14 million into the project to restore the Villa Marina in Douglas, and turn it into the Island's premier multi purpose venue, alongside its sister, the Gaiety Theatre.

The venue combines Edwardian splendour with contemporary thinking. The spherical Royal Hall features a 19.5 metre high domed ceiling and seats 1500 people - with easy conversion to standing or dancefloor format.

ADLIB won the competitive tender to supply the kit amidst stiff competition - which also includes several other Harman brands including BSS, Crown and Soundcraft. The project was co-ordinated by ADLIB's Andy Dockerty and Harman Pro UK's Max Lindsay-Johnson, and for the client by Steve Dawson, general manager of the Villa Marina and Gaiety Theatre Complex.

From the outset, the brief was to specify the right production values to put the Isle of Man on the map in attracting regular touring artists of all types - reassuring them that all they need to play the Island is to bring their backline.

The system's physical aesthetics also had to match the architectural integrity of the room and maintain clear sightlines from all around the auditorium. All this plus configurable and flexible.

When JBL launched the mid sized VerTec system in early 2003, Steve Dawson visited the UK to hear and see it system 'in situ' for himself. Suitably impressed, the resulting audio tender was based around this specific sound system.

The main arrays are 12 VerTec 4888 elements - 6 per side - complete with two VT4887 under-hang boxes per side for front fill. Under the balcony are 12 JBL Control 30's for delay, concealed behind architectural panels in the balcony roof.

Front-of-stage are four JBL AM6212/64 enclosures for out-fills. ADLIB Audio 281 enclosures are utilised onstage for front centre fills.

The FOH console is a Soundcraft Series 5, complete with BSS Omnidrives for system control, BSS 960 EQs and a rack full of the most popular and common gates, compressors and effects including devices from TC, Lexicon, Yamaha, dbx and Drawmer. The air-conditioned amp room downstairs is full of Crown VZ 5002s, and the Crown XS series for the in-fills, delays, side fills and monitors. ADLIB also supplied Villa Marina with a selection of AKG microphones including the new 451 condenser mic.

The cinema element of the Villa Marina Complex also features a JBL cinema audio system, that was designed and installed by Sound Associates, consisting of a JBL 3678 Screen system and 3635 subs..