USA - Community has added new Cloud 4 and Cloud 6 models to the existing Cloud 12, providing a range of ceiling loudspeakers for high quality speech and music installations. Long-term reliability, sound quality and ease of installation were the core considerations in the design of all three models. To provide optimum performance and consistent coverage with minimal diameter the Cloud 4 and 6 use a coaxial drive unit design and bass-reflex loading. 4 and 6-inch cast aluminium frame mid/bass units respectively are coupled to a three-quarter-inch aluminium HF unit via a high-grade crossover. Both units employ Community's proprietary Air Gap Technology (AGT) cooling for increased long-term high output and reduced power compression.

The Cloud 4 has a nominal dispersion of 140° conical and the integral 30W 70/100V line transformer offers 4-tappings and a bypass setting

UK - Scottish audio sales and rental company, GB Audio, has supplied a 16 channel Allen & Heath GL2200 multi-purpose console to Queen Margaret University College (QMUC) in Edinburgh.

The GL2200 has been installed in QMUC's Gateway Studio Theatre, and is an upgrade for the College's Drama Department, which was looking for a compact, yet fully-featured desk for training students to be theatre technicians. The mixer will also be used to manage audio for the College's productions, as the Theatre also hosts performances by students and professional theatre companies throughout the year.

GB Audio's Graham Bodenham comments: "Allen & Heath is renowned for designing consoles with the best build and sound quality, and the GL2200 mixing console ensures a comprehensive, quiet and reliable front end of the audio system. The College was also looking for a mixer with flexible output ro

USA - Bose introduced an enhanced and expanded family of Panaray LT loudspeakers. The five-product line includes two new loudspeakers: the Panaray LT 9402 loudspeaker and the Panaray LT MB24 modular bass loudspeaker. These new options, along with improvements to the Panaray LT 9702, 4402 and 3202 mid/high loudspeakers, create a product family that delivers a variety of sound pressure levels (SPLs) and dispersion patterns to meet the demands of large and medium-sized venues - including long-throw speaker-to-listener distances, challenging room acoustics, and high SPL requirements.

"The improved performance and visual appeal of the Panaray LT loudspeakers provide more options for consultants, system designers and contractors," said Frank Van Heyghen, business director, professional systems division Europe. "This line accommodates venues where quality sound, intelli

UK - Geoff Hoon MP recently sang the praises of a local music firm when he visited their factory. The Ashfield MP, who is known for his passion for music, had a tour of Carlsbro Electronics in Kirkby and met a number of apprentices. Carlsbro, which manufactures amplification for bands and musicians, was established in 1959 is one of the few remaining of its kind in the country and continues to go from strength to strength.

In a recent high-profile project, the company created a live music venue in Westminster for 220 MPs. The event was organized to raise the profile of live music and featured live acts such as MP4 - Parliament's first pop band!

Geoff Hoon's visit to Carlsbro was made to coincide with the first ever 'National Enterprise Week' (15-21 November), a government-backed initiative to help foster a more dynamic enterprise culture in the UK. Hoon commented: "The

Austria - HK Audio's Cohedra (Coherent Dynamic Response Array) system has been used by theatrical PA rental company Showtime in Austria for a large-scale musical production, Coming Home. "Cohedra is now gaining a good reputation in Austria as it's been used for many corporate shows such as 100 Years of Kleine Zeitung in Graz, the Gackern culinary event in St Andrä, as well as for the leading TV show Wetten Das," says Roman Wieser from HK Audio's Austrian distribution company, eXact. "Showtime's production manager Christian Polster had heard a lot of good things about Cohedra and wanted to test the system. This wasn't going to be an easy project as the show featured more than 130 artists, an orchestra, band and vocalists, so they decided that it would be the perfect challenge for Cohedra. He was very satisfied with the results, both for the ease with w

Estonia - Estonian audio company MuMix Inc has installed a KV2 Audio system at the Bonnie & Clyde nightclub, in Tallinn, Estonia. The club, which is located on the first floor of Reval Hotel Olympia was looking to completely upgrade its sound and lighting systems. Having done his research, MuMix's Kaupo Uibo had no doubt in specifying a KV2 Audio, ES system. Alex Pagliani of KV2 Audio says: "Once we had demonstrated the ES system to Mr. Uibo he was convinced that the system would work at Bonnie & Clyde. We already new that the club featured both live and recorded music, which made the ES system a perfect match."

MuMix installed installed four ES 1.0 (two per side) with four ES 2.5 subwoofers. The newly installed audio system was commissioned in early October and has immediately attracted huge crowds to the club.

(Lee Baldock)

Greece - Cadac supplied two J-Type Live Production Consoles to one of Europe's largest cultural centres, Megaron - the Athens Concert Hall Complex. The J-Type consoles, comprising one 60-input and one 56-input frame plus a flexible 24-input sub frame, are installed in two new multi-functional halls at the Athens Concert Hall, and were supplied and installed by Cadac's Greek distributor, Telmaco SA, after a two-year bid process.

Athens Concert Hall opened in 1991, some 35 years after the Greek government originally donated the site for its construction. The venue is jointly governed by the Athens Concert Hall Organisation, the Friends of Music Society, and the state, and hosts an extensive schedule of musical productions and events.

The two new halls, the 1800-seat Alexandra Triandi Hall and the 400-seat Nikos Skalkotas Hall, were opened at the end of 2003, complete with new so

UK - Loud Technologies Inc. recently announced the appointment Steve Badham to the position of UK sales manager for the EAW and EAW Commercial brands. Badham has a long history in the professional audio industry, and in particular with EAW, and is also an associate member of the Institute of Acoustics.

Badham's association with EAW began in the late '90s when he held the position of European technical sales engineer for EAW International, as they were known then, and formed part of the commissioning team for Barcelona Camp Nou Stadium. After that he went to EAW's UK distributor, Sound Department, where he commissioned EAW's first UK multiplex cinemas in Epsom and Bradford. More recently he has been running his own audio/acoustics company before rejoining EAW in October.

Loud Technologies' Martin Warr commented: "We are delighted to welcome Steve to the UK sales team. He i

Italy - The MTV Europe Music Awards took place this year on the 18th November at the Tor di Valle in Rome. Derrick Ziebe was sound designer for the show with all live equipment being supplied by Britannia Row Productions, including all of the Sennheiser radio, mics and IEM, the choice of the large majority of artists.

Sennheiser radio and IEM was used throughout with Sennheiser SKM500N specifically used for all of the presenters and the winners. Bryan Grant for Brit Row commented, "49 channels of Sennheiser radio were used in an unfriendly RF area but the system performed flawlessly."

The majority of artists also chose Sennheiser mics including Usher and Alicia Keys (evolution 500 series wireless), The Hives (evolution wired, main vocal e 935), Franz Ferdinand (evolution wired, main vocal e840), Eminem (SKM5000), the Beastie Boys (SKM5000), Anastacia (evolution 500 s

UK - Adlib Audio and sister company Adlite are supplying full sound and lighting production to the current UK Embrace tour. Audio includes a Nexo Alpha system and one of Adlib's new Yamaha PM5D digital consoles and lighting includes Martin MAC 550 and High End Studio Beam PC moving lights and a WholeHog II desk.

With a huge variety of venues on the itinerary, the typical stack of Nexo is eight M3 mid-highs eight B1 bass boxes and six SB2 subs, which the larger venues expanding to eight mid-highs and bass cabinets a side with a total of eight subs. The system is powered with two types of Camco amps - Tectons for the mid-highs and Vortex for the subs. The PA is zoned via BSS 366s, which are used for time alignment when they're running infills, outfills or delays in some of the more idiosyncratic rooms.

Jones mixes with a Midas H3000 FOH. For system processing, he's using 10 dbx

UK - Vision Systems recently revealed plans to extend early warning solutions by offering its Millbank voice alarm solution to new and existing VESDA smoke detection and ADPRO video security customers.

Gordon MacSween, managing director at Vision Systems, comments: "We are already market leaders in detecting threats with our VESDA range of very early warning smoke detectors and our ADPRO range of video security systems. Our next step will be to further integrate the Millbank voice response products to complement our offering by adding a response capability. This may be the automatic announcement of a staged evacuation in the event of a fire or preventing damage or loss by telling an intruder that they have been detected, police called and for them to leave the premises."

Neil Voce, sales and business development director for voice response systems at Vision Systems,

The Netherlands - Alcons Audio has introduced the new RBN1801 pro-ribbon driver - a new mid/high frequency transducer designed for high output and high fidelity sound reproduction applications. Based on the principles of Isophasic planar driver technology, the RBN1801 features an effective radiation length of 18" (46cm), offering power handling of 3kW (for 200ms, which is 10 times the industry standard, say Alcons Audio) and a high efficiency of 108dB with 1W @ 1m. With a 90° wave-guide, this efficiency rises to 110dB, say Alcons, with a frequency operating range of 1kHz - 20kHz (+/-3dB) and a maximum SPL of 145dB.

As a result of the symmetric 'push/pull' design, not only is the 1801 completely magnetically shielded, it also functions as a dipole cylindrical radiator. The mid/high frequency transducer features Alcons Audio's patented 'Real-90' dispersion, a unique develop

UK - Autograph Sales, continuing its longstanding relationship with some of the UK's leading sound rental outfits: Canegreen, Richard Nowell Sound Services (RNSS) and Sound by Design have in recent months been reinforcing their Meyer Sound loudspeaker stocks with the latest products.

Richard Nowell Sound Services is responsible for sound and communications throughout the South Bank Centre, while supplying additional systems to the various artists and events who play London's riverside venues. A Meyer Sound user for more than 20 years, RNSS added 700HPs, the ultra high-power sub woofer, to its inventory.

Meanwhile North London's Canegreen, continues to expand its extensive Meyer Sound stocks, also with the 700HPs. The first in the UK to purchase the product, Canegreen is really putting its new sub woofers to use, after several dates with The Corrs, they are now travelling the c

Europe - Audio-Technica Ltd (UK and Europe Division) has announced the promotion to its Board of Directors of Tony Cooper as UK sales director and Adrian Rooke, as European finance director. The company reports that this expansion of the Board of Directors comes towards the end of a year that has seen considerable growth of the company's structure. Other appointments to the Board of Directors of Audio-Technica UK Ltd include Toshiyuki Hatakenaka and Shigeru Uzawa, representing two manufacturing divisions of the Corporation in Japan.

On 1 April 2004, Audio-Technica UK assumed responsibility for all European distribution and completed a refurbishment and expansion of its Leeds-based office and warehouse facilities in June. To support this major expansion of European operations, new appointments during this year began in April, with that of Richard Garrido as European marketing and

USA> - Crown's Xs Series amplifiers are proving a solid, cost-effective choice for powering installed sound systems in houses of worship, the company reports. Jeff Gefke of Calvary Audio Ministry recently chose the Xs Series for Calvary Chapel churches in Visalia, California and Rio Grand, Texas, while another installation using Xs Series amps by Calvary Audio Ministry is currently underway in Oceanside, California.

The power range and versatility of the Xs Series makes it easy to match amplifier power to the requirements of the various loudspeakers used in an installation. For example, in Visalia, a single four-channel Xs 4300 and two Xs 700 amps power the JBL AE Series LCR system, with channels to spare for stage and side-fill monitors, and Xs 700 amps power the subs. Commenting on the performance of the system, Gefke said, "During the Grand Opening with over 1000 people

UK - London-based production company John Henry's Ltd (JHL) has updated its already substantial monitor system inventory with a major purchase of 40 QSC PowerLight PL236 amplifiers. QSC's distributor, Shure Distribution UK, filled the initial order and provided the product in newly commissioned monitor racks. JHL's special projects manager Pepin Clout said: "All our front-of-house amplifiers are QSC, so it made perfect sense to maintain that continuity. That said, we conducted an extensive market evaluation of all available product, which effectively confirmed our decision that QSC amplifiers continue to be our best investment, based on sonic transparency and performance, power-to-weight ratio, and reliability."

JHL is active not only in live television broadcasts, but are well-established in the concert touring, corporate, and showcase arenas, which places rigorous

Hong Kong - Hong Kong based Sound Projects agent Shalom AV recently supplied the sound equipment for a worship concert at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium for 2500 people. The 'Stream of Praise concert is performed by a famous Christian worship team that tours around Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA. Equipment used for the event comprised: Six SP-4 Diamond (Sound Projects' hybrid line array system) each side flown as line array, four SP-4-15 subwoofer, two SP-4 Diamond as front fill, two SP-2 as centre front fill and two SP-2 as side fills.

Shalom AV Technology successfully served the annual event for the seventh time this year and has already been asked to quote for several other projects because of the outstanding success of the event.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

Canada - Adamson Systems Engineering has announced that effective January, 2005, Andreas Weingärtner will join DV2 (Adamson Support Europe) as the company's European sales manager. The appointment was made by Guy Vignet, managing director of Paris-based DV2.

"With Andy we won an extremely competent and enthusiastic salesman for this new position," said Vignet. "His experience and specifically, his expertize is relevant to loudspeaker technique and will certainly be beneficial to Adamson."

Weingärtner is well known to many in the pro audio business. Since the mid-'80s, he has worked with a number of established manufacturers and has built and extended his national and international connections within the field.

"I am very excited to be able to fulfill this position, particularly with regard to the Adamson brand," said Mr. Weingärtner. "Lo

UK - The Tussauds Group have purchased two HK Audio LUCAS 1000 self-powered active systems for use in the Ma Garrita's Bar feature, part of the new Splash Landings Hotel at the world famous Alton Towers Theme Park and entertainments complex.

The client declared themselves to be very satisfied with the quality and flexibility of their existing inventory of HK Audio active enclosures, in the form of Actor AT112A 400W 12"/1" mid-high and AT115S 400W 1 x 15" subs, which are relied on to provide high performance portable sound reinforcement solutions for a wide range of applications throughout the park, the impressive performance of these units meant that Alton Towers technical manager Simon Horsley immediately looked to HK Audio to fulfil Alton Towers' requirement for further systems.

Consequently, LUCAS 1000's were selected as the ideal choice, based on their abi

Australia - From humble beginnings as a meeting place for Italians in the Western suburbs of Sydney, Club Marconi now provides sporting, entertainment, educational and social services for a whole community of varying cultures and origins. The Club recently extended its facilities to include a 1050 capacity multi-purpose music venue - the Casa Nightclub - with an impressive sound system based around Allen & Heath's iDR DSP system.

A good sound system was high on the agenda for this new project, so Marconi appointed Sydney's leading AV contractor, Total Concept Projects (TCP), to manage the audio installation. The new music venue is a dual function auditorium, which is used as a nightclub and to stage concerts for the numerous high-profile local and international artists who perform at Club Marconi. The design brief consequently specified a split system that could be used equally

USA - Production Resource Group (PRG) provided a combined lighting, audio, and scenic solution for the latest tour of the popular rock band, Scorpions. PRG's service package includes a conventional lighting rig with Icon control system, a V-Dosc audio system with Midas consoles, and several scenic flats for the band's stage. All of the items were packaged together in PRG's Las Vegas operations depot, which contains a full-service scenic shop and over $50 million in lighting and audio equipment.

"Being able to prep and load all of the equipment and scenic elements from a single operations facility enabled us to respond quickly to the band's needs," stated Mark Coleman, a PRG account executive for the tour. "And by co-packing the items, we were able to save the band significant shipping costs."

The first portion of Scorpion's Unbreakable tour began on October

Europe - Tom Waits headed to Europe in November to play an eight-date sell-out tour. Monitor engineer Derek VanOrd, who was out with Waits for the first time, chose an InnovaSON 48-input console for use on stage.

VanOrd had first used an InnovaSON console on an 18-month tour with Ben Harper following a recommendation from US PA company Rat Sound. "It seems as if everything is going digital now and eventually you're going to have to make the jump," says VanOrd. "There was a month of band rehearsals prior to the Ben Harper tour so that was a great opportunity to learn to operate a new digital console."

Thanks to his intensive use of InnovaSON with Harper, VanOrd had no hesitation in specifying another board as monitor console for the Tom Waits tour. The console's small footprint, combined with onboard dynamics and EQ, perfectly suited the four venues Waits pl

UK - The Times London Film Festival, presented by the British Film Institute, is Europe's largest public film event. This year, the 48th annual festival attracted over 116,000 admissions, 280 of which were screened from 60 countries. In addition to an impressive roster of film premieres, many of which are introduced by the film's director, producer or stars, the extensive schedule of festival activities include prestigious opening and closing night galas, after-film VIP parties, industry and public forums, education events, lectures and celebrity interviews. Premier PR, who handles many of the film premiers and after-film parties, turned to Sound Division to provide sound and lighting effects for two high profile parties.

The first was for Chinese director, Zhang Yimou's latest film, House of Flying Daggers. The exclusive after-film party for 500 guests was hosted at Lon

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