Ministry of Sound opened in 1991 in a disused bus garage in South London’s Elephant & Castle and has since become a nightlife institution, expanding into a record label and worldwide events operation.
Now, the award-winning Martin Audio sound system that’s soundtracked thousands of sweat-soaked, hedonistic nights in the club’s main room is up for sale through music memorabilia auction house Wax Poetics.
The mammoth rig is made up of six stacks, each combining two Martin Audio W8C cabinets with two 18-inch bass bins and two passive 21-inch subs. Wax Poetics says the output is around 25kW per stack, and six XTA amplifiers are included. It’s up for private sale, with price available on request, and Wax Poetics is taking enquiries from venues, hire companies, festivals and collectors.
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Described by Wax Poetics as a “once-in-a-lifetime piece of dancefloor history”, the system was used in the club’s main room from 2010 to 2025, earning the title of Best Club Sound System at the International Dance Music Awards four years running.
It’s now being retired on the club’s 35th anniversary as part of a major refurbishment, which saw the Martin Audio rig replaced with with a bespoke four-point KV2 system made up of KV2 SL412 top speakers alongside VHD2.21 and VHD2.16 subwoofers.
Also up for sale by auction is a collection of memorabilia from the club’s 35-year history, including two mirror balls, club flyers from the Ministry of Sound archive, a 12-issue run of the club’s annual magazine, and the sales award for Eric Prydz’s Call on Me, one of the label’s biggest releases. If you’re really feeling nostalgic, you can even bid on a actual piece of the club’s dancefloor itself.
“Each piece in this collection tells part of Ministry of Sound’s story, from the line-ups on the flyers to the nights captured in photographs”, Wax Poetics co-founder Dave Holt said in a statement.
“The soundsystem has a different role. It’s the equipment through which records became a shared experience, night after night. This rig connects directly to The Box and the generations of people who made it their dancefloor.”
