The Fairplex grounds are home to more than 325,000sq.ft of indoor exhibit space, including a 12,000sq.ft fine arts educational centre affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. The complex also houses carnival grounds, parks, plazas and picnic areas, as well as a 250-suite Sheraton Hotel and a 185-space KOA RV park. Also calling the Fairplex home is NHRA-rated Pomona Raceway and Fairplex Park horse racing facility. Both racetracks also host numerous concerts and performance events.
The Fairplex is constantly evolving, growing and modernizing its infrastructure, currently including a high-end revamping of the complex's audio systems. Woodland Hills-based Campbell-Shaw Incorporated, dba CSI Multimedia (CSI) has been involved in the design and installation of these projects-along with Fairplex IT manager Ralph Schorbach - including a powerful assortment of Community R-Series loudspeakers in various locations.
"We were originally approached to offer a proof-of-concept demonstration for one of the nine exhibition buildings," says CSI president Rick Shaw. "Our Community representative, Steve McNeil of Mac West Group, set up three Community R.5 loudspeakers at one end of the hall, powered by an MC2 amplifier, and it outperformed the thirty or so horns they had been using for the same space. They immediately asked us to do the racetrack and grandstands as well. Then we got to talking about the trams, and it's been onward and upward from there."
Convention Hall 9, the first building to be completed, is covered by 80 Community R.5-94TZ two-way full-range loudspeakers, with low end enhanced by six R.5SUB 12-inch subwoofers. Outside there are 16 R.25-94TZs and five R.5s. An Aphex Anaconda digital snake system provides fibre optic distribution to Building 4, which is the communication hub for the exhibit halls.
Other ongoing projects include Building 4, one of the largest structures at Fairplex at 105,500 square feet, covered by 135 Community R.25s and 14 R.5SUBs. Convention Halls 5, 6 and 7 will receive a total of 320 R.25-94TZ units and 36 R.5SUBs, with another 86 R.25-94TZs and 20 R.5s covering the outdoor areas between buildings. The Racetrack and 10,000-seat grandstands have received 16 R1 loudspeakers and are slated to receive another ten R1s, with eight more in the auxiliary areas.
(Jim Evans)
