Devon Leisure Centre Facelift
The Project Overview:
Broadmeadow Sports Centre in Teignmouth, Devon, was in the throes of a £3.7 million refurbishment in the spring of 2025 – out with the old and in with improved and accessible facilities to encourage local residents to pursue a healthier and active lifestyle.
The Brief:
Acting on website research and recommendations, the centre invited Exeter-based API Sound & Visual to furnish the venue’s three enlarged group exercise studios (one brand-new) with dynamic and full-range audio. The must-have was a ‘plug and play’ system in each space that instructors could use with complete ease, enabling them to come in, attach a microphone, press a button to connect their phone to play music, and begin the workout.
The Kit:
After assessing solutions against ease of use and room sizes, a sleek-looking Crown XLS amplifier for each self-contained area, paired with Martin Audio CDD speakers, ticked the requisite boxes. A very simple rack mixer with a large LCD display for volume control, the XLS would be intuitive to operate, allowing teachers to fully concentrate on delivering engaging classes. Featuring Crown’s patented DriveCore technology, it also had the capability to deliver crystal-clear audio for the intense work-out music and intelligible speech for the fitness instructor’s spoken coaching instructions.
The Order From Leisuretec:
3x XLS 1002 DriveCore 2 Power Amp with DSP 2x350W @ 4Ω 2U
8x CDD6B 6.5" 2-Way Passive Loudspeaker 150W Black
4x CDD8B 8" 2-Way Passive Loudspeaker 200W Black
12x WME60-B Back Mount Tilting Wall Bracket Type 60 126-146mm Black
API Sound & Visual Sales Director Stephen Neath says: ‘It’s always very reassuring when I speak to anyone at Leisuretec because I know that if they say they’ve got the stock I’ll be able to get it. With projects like this there’s always lots to juggle and if you know that part of the logistics is sorted it makes life a lot easier.’
I have a particularly good relationship with Craig (Leisuretec Technical Sales). When I first started out in the industry he was my go-to person for any technical knowledge because he is the oracle of such things.’
The Rollout:
The three studios differed in size and shape so required pragmatic treatments. Studio 1, double the size of the others at 20 metres long and 16 metres wide, suited the larger 8-inch Martin Audio CDD8. A total of eight 6.5-inch CDD6s were then installed across the smaller two studios to ensure rich, even coverage.
Stephen says: ‘We use the CDDs quite a lot and they sound really nice. They give you a pretty punchy sound for quite a small speaker. You can turn up the volume for, say, an energetic spin class and still get the clarity without any distortion. As a bonus, Martin Audio has a good infrastructure in terms of support.’
A Studiomaster mixer and radio mics completed the studios’ set-up. Although not originally part of the brief, API also provided a paging system throughout the foyer, corridors, circulation areas and changing rooms, using a BIAMP amplifier already at the centre with all the presets for the speakers in place.
The Challenges:
One of the studios had an unusual layout, almost like the bridge of a ship with windows wrapped around one side and steel girders. Engineers needed to manipulate the Martin Audio brackets to fix the speakers to the structure. Otherwise, the audio instalment was relatively seamless.
The main challenge was that API were briefed toward the final stages of the refurbishment. Electrical contractors had already run cables and ceilings and walls were freshly plastered and painted. To overcome this, Stephen explains, they had to add trunking, unnecessary clutter when routes could have been run in the walls.
‘Realistically, we should have been on site in April, if not before, to do the cabling. The actual install of the equipment would probably have taken about a week. As it was, my first look at the site was in early May and a lot of the work was finished. It took the engineers eight or nine days to then do everything because we had to deal with issues such as making new holes. It was a building project which made things interesting too with so many co-ordinators and overseers to liaise with, all working to different deadlines.’
Overcoming the hurdles, the project took pleasing shape like the pieces of a jigsaw and it was a proud moment when Broadmeadow Sports Centre reopened its doors on 24 July 2025 with an official cutting-the-ribbon ceremony. Signalling a fresh chapter for the Teignmouth community, the investment in audio equipment played a key part in imbuing the facility with a modern feel and an improved experience for both new and returning members.
About Leisuretec
Established in 1990, we are Trade Distributors of Professional and Commercial Audio, Lighting, Video, Special Effects and Ancillary. Through our AV Hire Production, AV Installation and Re-seller customers we address the live entertainment, leisure, commercial, residential and retail markets throughout the UK.
We support our trade customers with immense stock holding across a vast choice of products, knowledgeable technical support, competitive trade pricing, speedy delivery and attentive after-sales support.
