Like its close neighbours Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea Park, the Makuhari Messe has become increasingly successful since it first opened, so successful in fact that demand for the Event Hall had exceeded its ability to deliver. This was in part due to its large and heavy PA system that required four people to stack each cabinet. With a constant need to reconfigure the hall for a variety of performance styles the logical answer was a new PA system that could be quickly and easily deployed. Three small format line array systems were tried and compared, including a d&b audiotechnik Q-Series system from Germany. The d&b system was demonstrated by Chiba Kyoritz a local PA company, with support from d&b audiotechnik's partner Otaritec; the Q-Series system proved itself to be the most versatile under these demanding conditions.
The Makuhari project team of event sales manager Mr Fumio Omura (director) and Mr Seiya Naritha with Mr Masahiro Shimizu chose the Q system for several reasons, "Just ten boxes of Q1 each side was enough to provide sufficient level and great clarity; the system is extremely small and lightweight; and most interestingly, we noted that the Q-Series system powered by d&b's D12 amplifiers has an especially low electrical consumption."
Chiba provided Q1s, Q-SUBs and also MAX cabinets, all powered by D12s; the system is frequently used ground stacked, which proved to be a fast and easy option with no loss of performance or coverage.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)