A specialist manufacturer, Serapid produce chain-driven devices for vertical lift and horizontal motion of stages and dollies. A rigid product - inasmuch as when lined up vertically the chain links rigidise into structural support towers - the Serapid chain drive is available in five lift sizes providing motion for loads up to 10 tons, lifting 7m vertical.
Architecta's wireless audio system uses digital transmission techniques to reproduce CD quality audio up to 260m away from the transmission source. The system uses corrective algorithms and channel hopping to prevent interference and clashes in the 2.4GHz band. The system has a 20Hz - 20kHz response, sampled at 16 bits, 48 kHz (96kHz and 24 bits is possible) and can accommodate up to 40 channels at rates of 1.5Mbps or 3.0Mbps.
LTM, the new company formed by John Jones and Dave King - previously of PCM - was launched with a champagne breakfast on the Sunday morning. Jones reported that he thought PLASA was the ideal environment for the launch, with the whole industry before them, and that they enjoyed a very busy show.
Griven, exhibiting with UK distributor Ambient Lighting, launched its KolorGlobe 4000, a high-powered CYM moving head searchlight, and GoboStorm 575, an outdoor multi-effect gobo projector. Five Griven Colosseo 100 CYM colour-changing fixtures have just been supplied to the National Theatre as part of a permanent exterior lighting scheme, visible during the PLASA Show.
Hubert Dubeau from Gala Systems said the company was on a fact-finding mission to discover what clients need from them. New Spiralift technology is in development, with plans for an October launch.
Bryant Broadcast enjoyed a buoyant show. Making anything from 19" rack units to PD units, jack fields and cables assemblies, its highlighted products included the new ISOL8 range of mains conditioning units. 'The Grid SMS' is a PC-controlled sequential mains unit with filtration and remote interrogation.
Ayrton was showing its latest range of LED products including the ModuLED strip, an IP66-rated aluminium extrusion with 72 LEDs, designed for building illuminations, TV studios and other indoor and outdoor uses. EasyColor2 is Ayrton's new 36-LED moving head with electronic ballast.
Sound Leisure offers complete digital audio solutions for all areas of the leisure industry and custom builds systems to suit individual applications - ranging from simple digital juke boxes to state-of-the-art DJ control systems and interactive marketing units. The company can also supply customized screen solutions.
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Allen & Heath showed the VF-1 analogue stereo filter and Xone:92 MIDI-equipped, 6-channel DJ mixer. The latest generation MixWizard console, the WZ3, was also receiving a lot of attention, while the company's Vicky Willson also hinted at "a big desk in development". Watch this space.
A super-bright Digital Spot 2600 took centre stage on the Robe stand: a prototype version, Robe were reluctant to reveal what features this punchy moving head would include, but expect two digital gobo layers with a selection of up to 255 videos and images per layer. In the Club range, some fixtures from the Pro-range have been used with reduced features and the addition of a stand-alone sound-to-light function, which is also daisy chainable. In the mid-range products, the AT1200 Wash is new and the Spot version is now available with electronic ballast; also new, the 575 Wash with progressive zoom from 15-60°. You can now also purchase the head of the AT550 wash in a fixed yoke.
New from Cloud Electronics was the CX163, a two-zone stereo mixer with Mono utility output, which replaces its renowned CX133. The format is similar, with six line inputs, mic access and switching. Also new was the CX263 three-zone mixer, which offers one stereo zone and two mono zones.
DHA Lighting Services has supplied gobos for all the new shows heading into London for the autumn, including Mary Poppins, The Woman In White, Saturday Night Fever and Bat Boy. MD Diane Grant said PLASA 2004 was the ideal place to enhance relationships with dealers. The stylish stand proved popular with international visitors on Sunday.
Keith Sykes said 5 Star Cases was enjoying a buoyant show: new this year is the range of heavy-duty cases, Super Tour, aimed at professional users. Sykes said the company was led by new product releases; they then design cases to accommodate.
Exhibiting at PLASA for the first time in five years was Eurotruss, manufacturer of aluminium trussing. Technical director Henk Tiekstra said the company was looking for a UK distributor and had realized what an important show PLASA was for reaching established clients and potential customers.
Italian manufacturer Bespeco makes music accessories, audio and lighting equipment, cables and electrical instruments. Highlights included the new X9 8-channel audio mixer with eight compressors per channel, in-built EQ with middle and medium parametrics, gate function and a direct out insert line. It's aimed at working bands wanting their own small, all-in-one mixer.
Strong launched its new Radiance followspot, which has attracted praise for both appearance and operation. The SkyTracker: MiniTracker searchlight is also new and is an affordable option for those who want a lighter, lower power unit. Jack Schmidt said the company appreciated their close proximity to the Bandit Lites bar - which he says is a positive feature of PLASA and a great place to do business.
MDG Fog Generators was attracting strong interest on the stand for its DMX-controlled Fogger and Hazer. The company has recently done a huge installation of them into MGM studios. The machines are auto filling and developed after the company designed some products for the US army to use on practice manoeuvres. The reliable and heavy-duty machines are also aimed at the theme park market.
Aside from announcing the formation of new lighting distribution company Difuzion (see news this issue), Fuzion Plc featured many brands on its stand including Nexo and Camco. Brand new was the Radia Pro-Line range of architectural speakers, which offer equal sound anywhere in a room using planar technology: there are three speakers in the range - the Pro 1.0, the Pro 1.3 and the Pro 1.9. Finally from the Fuzion portfolio was the new Synergy series of amps from Australian Monitor.
Dynalite was promoting its full integration packages for control of AV, sound, lighting, window coverings, blinds, etc. Aimed primarily at the high end residential market, featured products included the Dynalite Universe panel wall controller, with seven standard buttons, available in a variety of architectural finishes to match the interior.
Skyhigh FX Ltd launched its new compressed air 4&8 channel Air-Fetti cannons, which they see as a great alternative to pyrotechnics. They are proving popular with cruise shows that are unable to use pyros but still want great FX for their shows. The company conducted a prize draw on its stand during the show, with the prize of an 8-channel Air-Fetti system won by Mathew Jones, a freelance stage manager working at Butlins in Bognor Regis. Skyhigh's Tom Owen said: "PLASA 2004 was absolutely brilliant - we've confirmed new and serious relationships into Russia, Albania and The Canaries, along with smaller dealers around Europe."
The ever-cheerful Paul Hinkly of LMC Audio was looking content, saying "Business is good after a lean couple of years." No doubt his mood was improved by receiving an order for one of Soundcraft's new GB4 consoles, which debuted at PLASA. Other new product on display included the Soundcraft GB8 desk, Drawmer DSL424 2+2 compressor/gate and dbx ZonePro 640.
DiGiCo's new D1 digital audio mixing desk is based on its worthy forebear, the well-known D5. Being a smaller footprint desk - yet sporting 40 busses, 64 channel inputs (with expansion facilities up to 96) and all the familiar D5 high/low filters, 4-band EQ etc - this looks to be a product attractive to the theatre market and for smaller touring productions. It comes in three variants: 'DP' has 12 onboard graphics for possible dual FOH/Monitor role; 'DR' has two drive racks (onstage as a stage box and one local to the desk); and 'EX' is basically D5 specification, with optical snake etc, just physically smaller.
The ribbon driver has yet to gain wide acceptance, but maybe the new QR Series from Alcons Audio is just the thing to do it. Designed for use in churches and large halls, this line source system utilizes an 18" ribbon driver and three 6.5" LF drivers, offering 120° by 19° dispersion. Available in two forms, Q36 and Q18, the former is merely a vertical doubling of the Q18. This two-way system has a frequency range from 70Hz - 20kHz with an SPL peak of 150dB (QR18: 144 dB - presumably at 1m).
Jacelle Mattsson, marketing manager for Swefog Technology Group, said the company was showing its new Live T26 smoke machine. It features the new Swefog Merlin R.I.S.C. processor-based electronics and delivers as a minimum, a massive 1,800 cubic metres of clean, dry smoke.
