Canada - Toronto entertainment complex The Docks has expanded its attractions and audio networking capabilities. System designer PA Plus and contractor Sound Dymax paired new rooms with a facility-wide audio system retrofit. "The Docks is the poster child for audio transport and external control for DSPs," says Peter Lima of PA Plus. "This is a facility where size really does matter. Because of its size and technical demands, the limits of external control and distance of audio transport truly test the Cat 5's infrastructure."

With twelve external and sixteen internal zones, the Docks project was a complex operation for PA Plus. Ease of control, flexibility and future expandability were the priorities for Lima, who also executed the original DSP programming and system design. "The number of remotes that were required for installation in the facility was

USA - The newly-opened Club Pure in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas features wall-to-wall Turbosound loudspeakers. The 36,000sq.ft club boasts four distinctly different nightlife areas, each with its own audio system, installed by Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave Sound in Las Vegas.

The main dance floor at Pure is a rectangular room flanked on two sides by raised VIP platforms. There are eight Turbosound TQ-315 loudspeakers, four TQ-425 dual 15" subwoofers, and two TSW-718 dual 18" subwoofers covering the dance floor. In addition, Turbosound manufactured six custom horn clusters with four drivers each that hang over the dance floor. An additional four TQ-308 loudspeakers cover the VIP platforms. Surrounding the main dance floor are two more TQ-308s, eight TCS-59s and three TQ-115 subwoofers.

The VIP facility, the Red Room, has a system comprising eight TQ-308s, three TCS

UK - Architectural lighting specialist LTP has commissioned and programmed 130 Color Kinetics iColor Cove EC fixtures for the Twilight Zone at The Deep in Hull - the world's only submarium. The Twilight Zone is a newly opened £6.8m exhibition within The Deep, exploring the life forms found beneath the sunlit zone of the ocean. Highlights include giant Japanese Spider crabs, Pacific octopus, wolf eels and the other-worldly Nautilus.

Lighting for The Twilight zone was designed by DHA's Peter Fordham. He also created the original lighting design for the popular attraction when it opened in 2002, in which LTP was also involved in the supply. Once again, he approached LTP's Terry Reeves to commission and programme the Color Kinetics fixtures once they had been specified and installed.

Dark blues, purples and rich UV hues are the predominant colours in the Twilight Zone. It was imp

UK - London's QEII Conference Centre, situated directly opposite Westminster Abbey, has undergone a striking application of Colour to its building exterior. To achieve this, the QEII management have embraced the latest developments in LED fixture technology by the integration of Pulsar ChromaFlood200 fixtures into their exterior lighting scheme.

A total of fourteen high-power RGB (Red-Green-Blue) CFLD200 fixtures provide stunning changing colour to the building facade with a maximum power requirement of only 2,500 watts, a figure that is reduced to about 1,250 watts for most of the programmed scenes.

Control is provided by a Pulsar Masterpiece Replay Unit that performs the pre-programmed scenes that are then transmitted by DMX to the fixtures in real time.

QEII production manager, Derek Chalmers who conceived and implemented the project commented, "This is an amazing st

UK - Following the Muziektheater in Amsterdam, The Royal Opera House in London is the second theatre of international fame that has replaced all current fly bars, as part of the complete theatrical installation, for an installation based on the ProTrac system from Prolyte.Prolyte distributor White Light brought the two parties together after they were informed that the Royal Opera House was looking for a new fly bar installation.

A regular fly-bar does not have the required strength if the uniformly distributed load needs to be upgraded from 300kg to 500kg and the point load from 40kg to 150/200 kg. Therefore, the single round tube is often replaced with ladder beams, usually made from steel. ProTrac offers a better alternative than these steel ladder beams, being specially designed to meet the demands from a modern theatrical environment and the CE compliance for lifting equipm

UK - Northamptonshire Magistrates Courts Committee has invested in 15 Shure ConferenceONE discussion systems for use in every one of the county's magistrate's courts.ConferenceONE with its innovative, fold-out telescoping Microflex microphone and integrated IntelliMix automatic mixing technology is virtually effortless to set-up and operate and delivers consistently natural, feedback-free audio and speech intelligibility automatically and is ideal for meetings and discussions for up to sixty participants, say Shure.

Each of the court discussions systems consisted of a single chairman unit with varying number of delegate units. The systems also included a Shure Microflex MX412 gooseneck mic at the witness stand and a boundary mic in the secure dock. In order to effectively manage each of the said mics, a Shure SCM410 automatic 4-channel mixer with Intellimix was utilized to incre

UK - Difuzion - the lighting division of Fuzion plc - have designed and supplied the lighting for a major new club on Blackpool's Promenade based around Futurelight fixtures. Graham Barron, who heads up Difuzion (which distributes Futurelight in the UK), renewed his acquaintance with Over Audio's Mike Boylan, who won the contract to provide the complete sound and lighting package for Peter Bowden's 2300-capacity Club Sanuk.

The building - formerly The Waterfront when it was operated by Luminar Leisure - has been completely refurbished at the hands of Bowden - one of the industry's most experienced professionals, and also a long-term acquaintance of Graham Barron. Bowden was previously operations director for Luminar before moving to the Far East as project director for Ministry of Sound, Bangkok, Taipei and then Singapore. He has divided his new venue into four distinct areas (i

UK - Set within acres of rolling countryside and heritage-listed gardens, the luxurious new Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire (near Hook) has tasked its sound system contractor, Onyx Media, with providing a system to play back a wide programme of ambient, tranquility music through its many zones.

The content is key to setting the right mood to boost the wellbeing of guests in the retreat hotel, and Onyx Media director Richard Studerus turned to familiar audio brands. One of these was Denon - a mainstay over the past 10 years. In the latest Four Seasons - which Onyx fitted out over a three-year period - they have used Denon's DCM-280 five-disc CD-player exclusively.

With its digital output, the player offers excellent performance at an unbelievable price point - while still containing Denon's traditional build quality. It is ideal for delivering the new age music which is central to

UK - One of the latest compact line array products to hit the market, the X-Line Very Compact (XLVC) from Electro-Voice, has found its first UK home at the historic Café de Paris venue near London's Leicester Square. Following trials of the XLVC (straight off the production line in the US) and other systems during February and March, the Café de Paris' technical manager George 'Blu' Deakin finally opted for the Electro-Voice system, which was supplied via UK distributor Shuttlesound.

The system joins X-Line and XLC (X-Line Compact) systems in EV's line array family, and comes in two sizes - the XLD281 and XLE181. The former is a full-bandwidth 3-way line array cabinet (2 x 8" + 2 x 2"), which measures 9.9" (251mm) high by 28.58" (726mm) wide by 14.52" (369mm) in depth. The latter is a full-bandwidth 2-way version (1 x 8" + 2 x 2") which measu

USA - Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida - once the favourite hangout of local resident Ernest Hemingway - recently installed a new main PA and monitor system from Martin Audio, as well as additional Martin Audio loudspeakers in the Backroom saloon located behind the stage and the upstairs Speak Easy bar. The famous club still features the original Cuban tiles floors and hosts festivals throughout the year including the Hemingway look-a-like contest. Named after the original owner Joe Russell, Sloppy Joe's has a reputation for hosting the best bands in the Keys and having the best party in town.

Unfortunately, the club's audio system was outdated and had been pieced together over the course of several years. "The last system install happened about twelve years ago," said Kevin 'Spyder' Wright, entertainment manager for the club. "When we decided to update the a

Australia - The popular Dreamland Karaoke Restaurant in Perth, Australia, recently upgraded both its lighting and audio equipment, which posed a problem; the venue is small and there was not enough room to install the extra power needed to spruce up the venue. The electrician looked at the cost and space required to install a new switchboard, which would also need dimmer circuits, and decided it was not a viable option. Fortunately, Andrew Newnham of Total Production Systems had recently seen the new EKO wall-mount installation dimmer from LSC Lighting and he suggested that this small, single-unit dimmer; with built-in RCD protection was all that would be required.

The EKO incorporates a cleverly designed installation frame that can be fixed in position without the dimmer being present. Load and control screw terminals on the frame allow for building wiring to be terminated in a

USA - Color Kinetics Inc has announced the broad installation of its intelliWhite technology in a multiple store roll-out for Bostonian, the specialty men's footwear brand owned by Clarks Companies, NA. Bostonian and its sister brand Clarks operate a network of retail stores nationwide, at least 15 of which will apply iW Profile to light their display shelving.

This system was chosen as a low-maintenance and long-lasting alternative to Bostonian's existing fluorescent display lights, which required costly and frequent replacement. The retailer will design custom display fixtures that incorporate iW Profile to downlight each shelf. iW Profile also allows for different Kelvin temperatures to be set according to display location, for example, cooler shades of white for displays near store windows, and warmer shades towards the store's interior.

According to the US Department of E

UK - Metropolis AV has completed the sound lighting and AV specification, supply and installation at the latest Sports Café in Liverpool, following projects in Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow plus two refurbishments for the chain.

Each Sports Café entertainment system is custom designed at Metropolis. Company chief design engineer Shane Winterbourne explained it has developed a specific technical formula across the Sports Café venues, primarily so: "Managers can go into any site and work the AV systems."

Metropolis supplied, installed and commissioned the house dimming and effects lighting, which includes 13 Robe Spot160 XT moving lights and 18 Par 64s, controlled via a LightProcessor Power Station 18 channel dimmer and a QCommander 512 desk. Winterbourne comments: "Effects lighting for the Sports Café is designed to be easily operated and robust. The system i

UK - HSL Productions has supplied full lighting rigs for both performance areas at the ABC, Glasgow's newest live music venue. ABC, situated right downtown in a charismatic building on the City's famous Sauchiehall Street, is owned by Scottish promoters Regular Music and PCL, and the Workers Beer Company. It features a 1,250 capacity main room and a 350 capacity second room plus VIP bar, and plugs the gap for a medium sized, highly specified live venue in central Glasgow.

Venue general manager Malcolm (Malky) Blair, a well known figure on the Scottish and UK music and touring scenes says, "We wanted a really excellent production facility to encourage bands and performers to play without needing to bring in their own rigs". As it's a multi purpose venue as well as a live music space, ABC will feature several regular club nights, so versatile lighting was also top of the

UK - New technology, originally developed by AnswerBack Interactive to facilitate audience participation in the 2005 summer show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Live, is now available at venues around the country.

First UK venue to be 'AnswerBack Enabled' is the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham where rehearsals for the show took place during early June. Over five kilometres of cable linked 2,200 handsets to each other, and to ultra-speedy processors, which identify the players' fastest response to within a thousandth of a second. AnswerBack Interactive's MD Paul Krisman says "During the course of our largest shows we will be processing more than 10,000,000 messages with a peak greater than 7,000 per second - this is more than 10 times that achieved by the London Stock Exchange."

Other venues offering the AnswerBack Enabled facility include the Eastbourne Con

Germany - Opened on 7 May 2005, the MARTa Herford museum in Herford, Germany aims to provide new inspiration for art, design, architecture and business both in and around the region. The extraordinary building complex is over 8,000sq.m and houses a novel combination of a Museum, a Forum, a Centre and a Café. Zero 88 Chilli Pro Dimmers are used to control the all lighting throughout the complex, integrating with Zumtobel Staff luminaries, Luxmate control system, and Soundlight system accessories to provide a complete building management solution. The Zero 88 dimmers were chosen in part for their convection-cooled design, which eliminates fan noise, and for their reliability. The range of dimmer sizes, ability to control different loads and RCD protection were also key factors in their selection.

The Museum itself is in front of the complex and consists of a 22m high dome and fiv

UK - Plans for the opening of the major new indoor sports and entertainments venue, Number One Piccadilly at the London Pavilion, moved closer this week with the appointment of specialist building services company, the Orostream Group, to carry out the internal design and refit of this prestigious project - scheduled to open in April 2006.

Number One Piccadilly at the London Pavilion is a listed building occupying the triangular site bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue, Great Windmill Street and Piccadilly Circus - which was previously occupied by Rock Circus. Plans include flexible layouts which will create a high quality central London venue ideal for events for up to 1,000 guests - including room for 500 seated hospitality, and a 500-seat auditorium for sporting fixtures such as boxing or snooker which will be unparalleled in the West End of London.

Making the announcement at Lon

USA - The Wolf Trap Foundation's Filene Centre has completed a distribution infrastructure upgrade that included the installation of six Lake Mesa Quad EQ digital matrix processors, which are handling loudspeaker optimization for the 12-zone system at the Filene Centre, a 7,000-seat performing arts amphitheatre. "Our Mesas sound amazing and we love the interface," says audio department head, Jens McVoy. "I envision us eventually going to Contour, but we're taking incremental steps with the capital improvement of the sound system . . . It was amazing how easy it was to install the Lakes and it's been a very intuitive process."

The centre accommodates nearly 3,500 people inside an open-sided opera house-like structure, with the remainder of the audience seated on a sloping lawn outside. As part of the infrastructure overhaul, Henry Parks, the venue's master ele

The Netherlands - Recently commissioned and based in Amsterdam, the Pure Liner is a floating presentation venue capable of accommodating up to 650 guests for a daylong product launch. Equipped with state of the art lighting, sound and audio facilities, the boat is aimed at companies in Holland, Belgium and Germany who want to make product presentations in a novel environment and is fully equipped to sail to any of those countries.

Included in the facilities is a d&b sound system comprising compact E3 and E0 loudspeakers with Qsubwoofers, all colour co-ordinated to match the black and white theme of the surroundings.

In the main presentation area, a giant screen is surrounded by E3s to provide a T0 point for the sound with E0s front and back in a circular configuration to provide the delays. The system was supplied by d&b's Dutch partner Audio Pro Nederland and was designed by

UK - Andrew Lloyd Webber has sold four of his West End theatres - the Apollo, the Duchess, the Lyric and the Garrick - to Max Weitzenhoffer, who is joined in a new partnership with producer Nica Burns. They will take over the four theatres on October 1 this year. The sale leaves Lloyd Webber with eight West End theatres - the Adelphi, the Cambridge, the Gielgud, Her Majesty's, the London Palladium, the New London, the Palace and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Announcing the sale Lord Lloyd Webber said, "Because the company's borrowings will be reduced, we will be able to spend a minimum of £10 million over the next five years in improving and refurbishing the remaining eight theatres in our portfolio which comprises some of the world's most famous music houses, including the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Palace and the London Palladium.

"These wonderful, treasured bu

Singapore - Following design and construction-supervision projects in Singapore spanning the past twenty years for independent recording and broadcast clients, UK-based Eastlake Audio is again active in the dynamic South-East Asian City-State.

The current client, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, located on the National University of Singapore campus, is constructing a new, world-class music facility with technology-smart classrooms and seminar rooms, practice facilities, teaching studios, concert hall, recording studio and video and Pro Tools equipped media facilities. Eastlake's involvement is with the recording studio and media facilities.

The project is a joint collaboration between the National University of Singapore and one of the world's leading music schools, the Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. The Conservatory is working closely

UK - The PAI Group (PAIG) has completed the design, specification and installation of full sound, lighting and AV system at the Media Centre Arts Hall, University of Wales in Lampeter. The project included the supply of a full live stage sound system, stage lighting and video equipment to the Arts Hall adjacent to the Media Centre.

The project required flexible and easy to use systems to enable the students to stage a variety of performances from fashion shows to live concerts and stage shows, plus conferences and media presentations.

The PAIG team, led by project manager Steve Timlin chose Logic System loudspeakers, for their ruggedness, quality and cost-effectiveness. They reconditioned and re-used the college's existing cabinets for side fills. The system is powered by QSC amplifiers, and the FOH desk is an Allen & Heath GL3300.

"It was also important to give the stu

France - Renault has opened a new communications and presentation facility at its main plant in Flins, near Paris, installing Allen & Heath products to manage the audio requirements. The new site houses a 350-capacity theatre and 1200sq.m dining/entertainment area, which will be used to launch new vehicles to the Press and VIP, and also as a meeting space for the company's distributors and employees.

The sound system was installed by Bordeaux-based IEC-ASV and includes a 32-channel GL3300 multi-purpose live sound console for mixing live events, and an iDR-8 digital mixing processor and iDR-out expansion unit for audio distribution around the venue. Turbosound speakers are fitted throughout the venue.

The entertainment area and theatre are separated by a stage, and a partition wall enables either side to be closed off, depending on the occasion. The iDR is programmed so that wh

UK - Martin Professional's Mach CI6 in-fill loudspeakers - 43 cabinets in total - have been installed into The Strand, Preston as part of a high quality background music system. The Strand is the city's newest and most exciting 'must go' venue, a contemporary new entertainment concept aimed at a lively, stylish clientele with good tastes in food, drink, design and music.

Preston is one of the fastest developing towns in the UK, with over 25,000 students, an ambitious urban regeneration scheme underway and a rich history in culture and commerce. The Strand is independently owned by Dave Patterson and general manager Dave Jones. They spotted a gap for a stylish venue outside the city centre that would attract over 25s and those prepared to make an effort to go out. The Strand is also the first completely non-smoking night venue in Preston.

The various social areas within the Str

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