USA - Radian Audio Engineering, a leading manufacturer of loudspeaker systems and speaker components for permanently installed and touring live sound applications based in Southern California, has appointed Timothy Thornton to the position of director of sales and marketing. Thornton brings to the position a broad base of knowledge and experience acquired during 20 years in the professional audio industry, including nine years with Apogee Sound International.

Most recently, Thornton completed a contract as managing director of Stage Directions, an in-house media and event production sales and rental company in Houston, Texas. Prior to that, Thornton was with Apogee Sound International, rising rapidly from the position of National Sales Manager to Vice President of International Sales. His extensive background of sales and managerial positions also includes design, installation a

UK - A.C. Lighting reports that its stand at the ABTT show will highlight a selection of the exclusive products and services available from the supplier's dedicated Lighting, Rigging, Audio and Video sales divisions, and sister Special Projects company.

As the exclusive UK distributor for the Chroma-Q, Jands and Spotlight brands, A.C.'s lighting area will feature recent additions to each range. The Chroma-Q LED range includes the new Color Punch compact IP65 fixture, providing super bright results for both indoor and temporary outdoor applications, and the Color Split fixture with dual side by side RGBA LED cells. The Jands range includes the revolutionary Vista lighting console with graphic based user interface and the FPX/WMX portable/wall mounted, professional touring quality 12x2.4kW channel dimmers. The Spotlight range includes the Cyclorama Domino RGBA LED floodlight with

Sweden - Lab.gruppen launched a new customer-focused, interactive website this month. The site, www.labgruppen.com, has been designed in direct response to Lab.gruppen's research into what its customers really need, says the company.

Lab.gruppen's managing director Tomas Lilja says, "At Lab.gruppen we have always taken customer support very seriously, talking and listening to our customers and taking their views on board. Over the last year we have conducted a series of informal research initiatives and the results have influenced the new website design and content."

"Right from the outset we've provided an auto-update feature on the PLMSeries software and firmware installer and we have now extended this initiative to make all updates and informational improvements totally available," says Michael Jarl Christensen, VP sales and marketing. "The new webs

Poland - Midas and Klark Teknik's newly-appointed Polish distributor Audio Plus has made its first XL8 Live Performance System sale in record time - just two minutes after its official appointment to the position.

The sale was confirmed following a training academy which introduced XL8 to Poland, just before the appointment became official. Audio Plus, a long-time Electro-Voice distributor, is regularly supported at its academies by local small-to-medium rental company Legro. Owners Jacek Graczewski and Grzegorz Lesniewski underwent a few hours of XL8 training before the academy, and went on to mix four bands throughout the evening.

"Just after midnight on 17 May - two minutes after Audio Plus became the official Midas and KT distributor for Poland - I received one of the shortest phone calls ever," recounts Pawlak. "It was Jacek from Legro, who said, 'Hi, Sebia

Finland - The April Jazz Espoo is the largest annual jazz event in the Helsinki area. The five-day event draws thousands of visitors from throughout Europe and beyond. This year marked the Festival's 22nd year, as well as the city of Espoo's 550th anniversary, making the event even more noteworthy.

Performers at this year's festival included singer Angelique Kidjo, jazz legends Ron Carter and Pharoah Sanders with their ensembles, and jazz composer Maria Schneider conducting the Espoo Big Band. Sound engineer Tuomo Matikka handled the event's audio using a Meyer Sound system.

The Festival's largest venue, Tapiola Hall at Espoo Cultural Centre, was outfitted with two arrays of 12 M'elodie line array loudspeakers each. Low end was covered by six 700-HP subwoofers configured in cardioid pairs. The main arrays were augmented by two UPA-2P loudspeakers for in-fills and eight MM-4 mi

UK - APR Audio has placed an order for Electro-Voice's new XLD and XLE compact line array cabinets to add to its already extensive EV inventory, becoming the first rental company in the UK to offer all five of EV's professional sound reinforcement systems.

Now the largest Electro-Voice systems rental house in the UK, APR first adopted the X-Array concert sound technology in 2000, two years later, buying into EV's line array concepts, first with X-Line and then with XLC systems. With this latest purchase of 24x EV XLD281 and 12x XLE181 compact cabinets, APR is intending to service its growing interest in touring musicals and cabaret-style one-off shows, which play in town theatres where audience sizes are generally less than 1500.

APR's owner Andy Reed is also a partner in new company R2 Digital, which owns the rights to a number of touring productions and supplies production s

USA - Renkus-Heinz will show three new products, including a new live sound line and a second generation version of one of its most successful products, at Infocomm 2008.

Details will be revealed on Day 1 of the show, but will include a major expansion of the successful Iconyx digitally steerable array loudspeaker concept, and a new addition to the popular Sygma series of installation loudspeakers, say the company.

"People have been using Iconyx for a wide variety of applications," says Renkus-Heinz president Harro Heinz. "But we've had intense demand both to expand the technologies it features, and to broaden its application horizons. Our research and development team has also been very active on several other fronts. The pace has been fast here, and we think people will be pretty excited by the developments we will be showing at Infocomm 2008."

(Jim Eva

USA - Four southwestern regional rental production and staging companies have each recently chosen JBL's Vertec line array systems for use in their audio rental business operations. The Dallas headquarters for AVW-Telav (a Freeman company), Ford Audio-Visual Services (Oklahoma City), Gemini Sound (Dallas, Texas), and Backward Audio (Salina, Oklahoma) have each recently selected JBL's new VT4888DP-AN midsize powered line array systems with VT4882DP-AN powered arrayable subwoofers.

While each firm serves different markets and has its own approach to rental sound reinforcement, the establishment of a large common inventory of similar loudspeaker systems provides some significant new options for rental customers in Oklahoma, Texas and beyond, says JBL. A total of 72 new powered midsize JBL Vertec line array elements with 36 supporting powered subwoofers will all now be located withi

USA Medialon has introduced several new products to its show and media control range.

Medialon Manager V5 can control any audiovisual equipment using any protocol and network. Being software based it integrates perfectly with IT, opening a wide range of new applications, says the company.

Medialon Manager is hardware independent and connects to controlled devices via industrial hardware as well as conventional AV control hardware such as AMX. Medialon Manager can run in hidden mode where only custom designed interface are visible or in user mode allowing live edition. It comes with free Panel software for custom touch screen design.

Medialon Scheduler is a Windows based application to schedule any type of events programmed with Medialon Manager Show & Media Control software.

Show Control Machine PRO has been designed with critical application in mind and every detail has b

UK - At this year's ABTT, Out Board previewed the TiMax2 SoundHub - a range of audio showcontrol and system processors.

In its ShowHub guise, the TiMax2 control software is configured specifically for programming and running shows and events, whilst the RoomHub version is optimized for more mainstream AV installations needing similar comprehensive audio processing resources but with less focus on real-time showcontrol or audio animation.

TiMax2 incorporates a scaleable multi-channel audio matrix and mixer to handle multiple sources and multiple zones in a variety of projects ranging from theatre and corporate or special events through to AV installations, museums, boardrooms, hotels and nightclubs. The compact 2U chassis provides 16 input and 16 outputs in analogue or AES/EBU format which is expandable up to 64x64 within the same frame. Optional networking interfaces include C

USA - Digigram is presenting the LX1616ES PCI network sound card with DirectSound and ASIO drivers for the first time at InfoComm 2008 in Las Vegas.

Little sister to the proven LX6464ES sound card which can exchange simultaneously 64 channels from and 64 channels to an EtherSound network, the LX1616ES can transmit and receive up to sixteen EtherSound channels, thus connecting computer-based audio applications to a 100Mb/s EtherSound network via a single Cat 5 cable.

The LX1616ES is designed for direct-to-disk applications that don't necessarily require as many as 64 channels, but still require maximum flexibility to play and/or record selected ES-100 audio channels using just a single Cat 5 cable. A scaled-down version of the LX6464ES, LX1616ES offers a starting point for price-sensitive applications, particularly since it can be upgraded on the fly from a 16/16 channel count

Italy - FaitalPRO has re-launched "a significantly improved woofer model already present on catalogue" and unveiled a new mid-woofer.

Flavio Naggi, overseas sales manager of FaitalPRO states: "Knowing how to transform the research of our internal R&D department into concrete economic value applied on both new products, as well as on continuous improvements in already existing ones, is a real priority for us: That is why we never stop, not even when we are satisfied with what we have created."

Improvements have been made to the FaitalPRO 18" woofer model 18FH500. The result is that now this woofer is able to sustain a 100W more than the previously declared power, climbing from 500 to 600W of nominal power.

The new FaitalPRO 10HP1020 mid-woofer boasts two spiders, and a small sized membrane compared to the classic subs, with a 4" voice coil.

(Ji

USA - City Theatrical's new SHoW DMX wireless DMX received the "Live Design Lighting Product of the Year Award" from Live Design Magazine at the Broadway Lighting Master Classes on May 20, 2008 in New York City.

SHoW DMX was a nearly unanimous first draft pick by the judges in the Wireless Networking category. One judge noted: "I find City Theatrical's product innovative in the multiple ways that it seeks to attain higher levels of data fidelity and create ways to peacefully coexist with other radio signals in the 2.4GHz band - adjustable power output, limited bandwidth mode, and limited burst mode."

Another judge noted, referring to SHoW DMX's reliability: "The SHoW DMX system was no different than using wires - first time I could ever say that."

CTI's SHoW DMX system utilizes a patent pending method that synchronizes the hopping pattern of the

USA - Pennsylvania-based Anderson Audio recently augmented its existing inventory of Lab.gruppen amplifiers with the purchase of 12 PLM 10000 Q Powered Loudspeaker Management systems. According to Anderson Audio owner Chris Anderson, the new PLM units - each of which incorporates two full modules of Dolby Lake Controller processing along with four channels of amplification - will afford greater flexibility in reconfiguring his largest touring system as well as a more compact form factor.

"The flexibility is the biggest thing that attracted us," states Anderson. "The cool thing about the PLM 10000Qs is that basically every one of the channels drives a speaker, so four channels of the amp covers the four channels that the speaker system needs. All you do is dial in the PLM to whatever you want that speaker to do."

Anderson notes that a further benefit of his

USA - Highland Baptist Church in Meridian, Mississippi contacted several nationally-known audio consultants and contractors to help solve their sound reinforcement problems.

Will Roland of local firm Gracenote Consulting recognised and praised the sanctuary's unadorned sound and proposed to improve the reinforcement situation by designing a system with excellent pattern control to avoid over-energizing the walls and ceiling in the first place. The tight, low-frequency pattern control of the full range Danley SH-50 and the rich subsonic response of the Danley TH-50 proved integral to his success.

MS Audio, LLC of Jackson, Mississippi installed the system from Gracenote Consulting's design drawings. As the room has two aisle's with a centre seating section and two side sections, Roland used two Danley SH-50s powered by Lab Gruppen C48:4 amplifiers to cover each seating section w

UAE - Triangle Entertainment Services unveiled at the recent PALME exhibition in Dubai d&b audiotechnik's recent additions to their renowned E-Series range, four new loudspeakers the E8, E12 and E12-D as well as the E15X subwoofer and the new lightweight D6 amplifier.

Lightness and power typifies the new additions to d&b's multipurpose E-Series; thoroughly modern loudspeakers, the E8, E12 and E12-D combine astutely engineered polyurethane hard foam cabinets, with highly efficient coaxial LF/HF drivers at their heart. Designed for use as stand-alone full-range loudspeakers, any of these models can be integrated into larger systems with the seamless homogeneity that has become a d&b convention. All three models have rotatable horns, with patterns of 90° x 50°, 80° x 50° and 110° x 50° (h x v) respectively, high power ratings of 129 dB, 134 dB, 133 dB SPL, a

Italy - FBT Elettronica S.p.A. announces the appointment of Mr. Luigi Paoloni as export manager for Central-South America, Africa (except north), East Europe extra EEC countries.Luigi Paoloni has spent seventeen years at Proel S.p.A. where he experienced the international sales department management, witnessing the whole company's history.

Paoloni comments: "I am looking forward to developing our brands in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe where Italian made products are very much aimed. FBT manufactures almost all its entire production in Italy, covering the complete production cycles at our plant in Recanati, near Ancona. FBT's organisation includes total product design, engineering and manufacturing in Italy and I am looking forward to bring my contribution to the future success."

Luigi Paoloni joins forces with the FBT's export managers Roberto Mataloni, h

Germany - Beyerdynamic has reported that Fred R. Beyer, the shareholder and long-time managing director of beyerdynamic GmbH & Co KG, died on 5 June 2008 in Heilbronn, Germany.

The company's statement says: "Beyer will be best remembered as a man who did not bow to convention yet still maintained a strong sense of traditionalism. After his father's death in 1959, he took over as Managing Director at the age of 26 of the still family owned manufacturing business and held that position until his retirement in 2002.

"He gave up a very promising career with the US Army and with it his great dream of a military life, although anyone visiting him at the factory could be forgiven for thinking that they had landed in the army because of his impressive collection of military vehicles and his management style.

"He led beyerdynamic for over 40 years and was instrumental

Venezuela - Corporacion Dynaco provided concert sound rental services for two of the largest events held during Festival Movistar Musica 2008. Movistar, a division of the Spanish telecommunications company, Telefonica sponsored the festival.

More than 25,000 people were attracted to the production sites, which each featured eight major international artists from Venezuela, Spain, Argentina, and Colombia like Los Amigos Invisibles, Caramelos de Cianuro, Chino y Nacho, Diego Torres, and David Bisbal. The 8 May event was held at the Zulia State capitol of Maracaibo's baseball stadium, and the 10 May 10 event took place in Caracas, at the Universidad de Venezuela's baseball stadium.

Dynaco deployed 36 JBL Professional VT4888DP-AN midsized powered line array elements equipped with JBL DrivePack technology for the main left/right arrays and four VT4888DP-AN elements as near- fills.

Portugal - Void Acoustics reports an unusual installation in Portugal, involving a club in a tunnel. Porto's newly opened Gare Club features an all-Void system, installed by T2 Produção e Eventos, designed to deliver high impact sound throughout the club. The club's main room occupies a 35m tunnel, with a ceiling height of 10m and just 6m wide, with the system incorporating Void's signature design, the triple-horn Air Motion speakers, as well as the Stasys 8 dual 18" horn loaded enclosures.

Gare Club's owners, DJs Freshkitos, were keen to match their unusual venue with an eye-catching system, capable of delivering a top quality sound throughout the club. They approached local and international sound company, T2 Produção e Eventos, on the basis of its reputation for high profile installations across clubs, venues and theatres. T2's Raul Ribeiro, a sound engineer and prod

UK - Roland Systems Group (RSG) has recruited SFL Group to its group of RSS dealers in the UK. Reading-based SFL is actively involved with system installation and live event production all over the UK, and is taking the RSS M-400 mixing console and S-4000 Digital Snake into its own rental inventory as well as accepting dealer status.

SFL managing director Mark Payne has already identified several market opportunities for RSS' new digital mixing system. "I see one of its strengths in the provision of end-to-end audio networking at low cost. It offers the ability to plug into a PC and record everything you are doing with ease, and very inexpensively. And of course the integration of the Digital Snake in audio networks makes the V-Mixing System a very interesting proposition."

SFL offers an extensive range of short training seminars for live production engineers, and wi

UK - One of the first V-Mixing Systems from RSS by Roland has been bought by The Bedford Corn Exchange, which has snapped up the digital console plus snake package to use as a portable system, shuttling between four local venues.

The Bedford Corn Exchange has much in common with civic theatres in towns all over the UK, featuring a 1000-capacity main auditorium which hosts a huge variety of repertory productions and one-off shows. The sound team also sallies forth into other venues owned and operated by the Borough Council, and have therefore invested in a new V-Mixing System from RSS by Roland which gives them 48-channel digital mixing capability on the move.

Pro-audio dealer JAP Sound fulfilled the Corn Exchange order, supplying the M-400 16-bus digital console and two S-1608 Digital Snakes with remote controllers. This compact digital system can be moved around the Corn Exch

Greece - L-AcousticsS DOSC systems were chosen to supply the Concert Against Global Warming in Athens, featuring Nikos Aliagas & Friends. Presented by renowned Greek TV show host Nikos Aliagas, this concert was the first act of a European Tour supported by the EU.

Greek sound providers Ypsilon & Audiosound provided L-Acoustics sound systems for this concert featuring left and right main PA arrays each comprised of nine V-DOSC enclosures with three dV-DOSC hung below, completed by two dV-DOSC per side for the stereo in-fills. Far left and right crowd areas were addressed by two additional outer-fill hangs each featuring six KUDO.

Sound designer John Moine de Russy reports: "I was in charge of the sound design aspects and system specifcation for this project. Thanks to the L-Acoustics Soundivision 3D simulation software, I was able to configure the complete system ah

Good News - The Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that the 30th anniversary ABTT Theatre Show staged in London's Royal Horticultural Halls last week was considered another triumph. Year on year the Show has expanded from both exhibitor and visitor perspectives. With over 100 participating companies, the organisers say that, despite the current uncertain economic climate, the visitor numbers were maintained and were slightly up on 2007.

Company News - In the entertainment technology industry's latest high-profile acquisition, Barco has announced that it has bought High End Systems Inc, the well-known manufacturer of automated luminaires, digital lighting and lighting controls, for a total value of USD 55 million. "With the merging of two strong industry players, this acquisition reinforces Barco's leadership position in the fast converging video and lighting segmen

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