Associated Students Program Board (ASPB) will crank it up to 11 at upcoming events with a new $45,000 sound system.

ASPB recently bought the new sound equipment with money in capital reserves. The purchase was made to replace and update old technology, some of which caught on fire prior to a concert in the Hub last May. The equipment includes four Eastern Acoustic Works main speakers, amplifiers and monitor equipment. ASPB also purchased a console, a drive rack, an effects rack, monitor wedges, snake cables and microphones. The new equipment arrived over Winter Break and has since been used in shows, including the Jan. 27 Flogging Molly concert in the Hub, Program Board Commissioner Travis Heard said.

“The sound [is] great,” Heard said. “It has a very clear sound and runs at low capacity.”

ASPB production coordinator Andrew Piepenbrink said the new system is far superior to the previous equipment.

“This new equipment is top of the line,” Piepenbrink said. “It’s dramatically simplified and much more idiot-proof.”

Heard said ASPB has been accumulating the money for the new sound system for the past 10 to 15 years but only recently made the upgrade because an amplifier at the Distillers’ concert last May blew out during sound check, causing a fire.

“The equipment was old and unprofessional,” Heard said. “It had been breaking down, the speakers were damaged from use and time, and the equipment had been around for 15 years.”

After losing the amplifier, ASPB rented equipment, which increased the cost of producing a show, Heard said.

Heard said the new equipment will bring better acts to campus.

“You need to develop a good reputation with bands, and ours had been jeopardized because of our equipment,” he said. “It’s going to help us establish a better reputation with more professional equipment. With the type of setup that is top of the line, bands are going to want to play our venue more and it’s going to establish a better name for us. We’ve already developed a professional reputation and [we’re] already coming in with better bands.”

Heard said some of the old equipment will be sold or thrown away if beyond repair. Some of the old equipment that is still usable will be kept for ASPB shows at Anisq’ Oyo’ Park.