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City Theatrical - Banner - July 2025

Events

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>A new filter for the highly successful Omnidrive speaker system processing unit was introduced by BSS Audio. The Thiele filter, identified by the 366T suffix, eliminates the phase anomalies experienced by those using FIR, making for a louder and clearer system sound. On the same stand, Soundcraft had no new product for the show, but reported excellent sales of the MH3 since its launch earlier this year.

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>A testimony to the durability of Rainbow Colour Changers comes in the fact that the same scroller units have been in place on the show Starlight Express for 15 years with very few replacement units. There have been no recent changes to the technology (no need to fix what ain't broke), but Rainbow has introduced a new string service to ensure a custom service to suit the needs of the client.
LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

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>No new products this year to add to MDG Fog Generators' impressive range of products, but plenty of projects on the go. Commercial manager Martin Michaud told us they've been extremely busy working on a number of high profile projects from Celine Dion in Las Vegas to LegoLand in Germany and the new Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity.

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>The W8LM is a mini line array with its own dedicated sub from Martin Audio. The WLX is a single 18" hybrid folded horn/reflex cabinet capable of reaching down to 35Hz (up to 150Hz). The main mid/high box contains dual 8" and dual 1" tightly fit to a cabinet just 243mm high. A fully designed flying system accommodates both cabinets, the mids giving a claimed consistent 100° horizontal which, if it's anything like its forebear the W8L, will prove to be the case. An early vote of confidence was revealed by the announcement that the Synco Network has already made a significant commitment to the W8LM system.

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>There were two new products from Tomcat: Swing Wing Trussing, winner of a 2003 Eddy award, is an old idea given a new make-over. Still 30" by 30", this trussing is purpose-designed to take a whole variety of modern automated lights 'permanently' mounted within (or at least for the duration of your touring production). Also from Tomcat comes Dek, a re-designed extrusion to improve on the existing stage deck system from sister company Brilliant Stages. The extrusion includes an M10 nut rail to allow the fitting of a host of accessories, not least handrails and steps.

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>The refurbishment of J Type modules to 2003 standards might not sound revolutionary, but when you acknowledge that this Cadac console is the de facto standard for many theatres, and the J-type is over 10 years old, then such updates are of great benefit. A derivative of the J, the S-type is a smaller, less well-featured module designed to address the needs of the smaller theatres, but with the same multi-frame design (for growth and/or custom sizing) and audio quality.

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>The unofficial L&SI staff award for 'Most Entertaining Press Pack' went to Logic System Pro Audio, who managed to combine all the necessary info on the company's new second-generation CM series wedge monitors without any of the over-the-top superlatives and PR bluster that press packs are inevitably weighed down with. The new monitors took pride of place on the company's stand, backed up by the range of CS, IS and LS enclosures.

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>Of principal interest on the Audace stand was the latest software for the SuperHub AV controller. A popular device for installers, the new software enables IR control interface and is an easy upgrade for existing installs. The new Ani-Touch, a touch screen controller for SuperHub, has some of the functions of SuperHub integrated within it and can thus be used stand-alone to control a simple system.

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>Jack Schmidt said Strong Entertainment Lighting was having a great show, with a very busy Sunday. Eight of the company's new Gladiator IV 4kW Xenon followspots, designed for fixed use in large venues or for touring, have recently been sold to Spot Rental BV in Europe.

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>Aside from the Unibar, new for Slingco this year is the Unibar hoist, a cost-effective system developed in tandem with PCM, which allows easily controlled raising and lowering for general lifting purposes. The company has also had a busy year with its popular Cablenet 'virtual floors'. Sales engineer Matt Dykins said they were working on more installations and more applications of the system than ever before.

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>An unusual visitor to PLASA, and a new one, Specialz provide PAT tested, CE marked solutions to set designers (TV, concert, wherever) who wish to place lights and other electrical devices into scenic elements. "We also provide low-tech solutions to complicated problems," said co-director Dave Smith. Two good examples were on the stand; a dimmable ballast for fluorescent tubes, flicker and 'plasming' free between 2%-100% fade; and a delightful pair of roving headlamps built for the Weasley family's Ford Anglia, as used for the recent Harry Potter launch at the Royal Albert Hall.

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>Alcons Audio's primary display was its new LR6 compact line array system. Based on a twin 8" mid/high cabinet, the use of a 6" ribbon device for the high gives the system some unique characteristics. The simplified horn construction is the biggest benefit of this driver, obviously giving the potential for much reduced distortion and better transient response, peak power 1000W in 200msecs, 105dB 1W @ 1m. The horn is also rotatable, making a single cabinet positioned vertically a practicalstand-alone box.

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>Inevitably, PLASA 2003 saw the biggest range yet of LED-based lighting products. Winner of the PLASA award for Design Excellence in the Lighting category, the Element Labs' Versa Tile is a modular, LED-based panel matrix with front diffuser, each panel corresponding to an individual pixel of a computer screen. A relatively small array of Versa Tiles offers a bright, cartoon-like feel, whereas a bigger installation could deliver high resolution imaging. It's currently available in a 5 x 5 pixel unit (50cm x 50cm), but the company's Jeremy Hochman confirmed that both larger and smaller units are in development.

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>Two new power supplies were among the new products for Roscolab - the PSU-400 and PSU-200, each with four XLR outputs plus four returns and termination switch. These offer triple-fan cooling and are already set up for RDM protocol. For users of traditional metal gobos, 150 new designs have been introduced and a new Gobo catalogue has been published. The Rosco Vortex 360 dual gobo rotator is a sleek device which can rotate one or two steel or glass gobos at fixed or variable speed. Duncan Smith said Rosco were enjoying an excellent show.

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>Cirro Lite (Europe) was demonstrating its Lightning Strikes! range of lighting effects. New to the range is the Paparazzi Flash Quad and Longstrike, offering full-power 10-second flash, with focusing beam. In response to demand Cirro Lite has also developed the DMX 4 bank select which allows users to control Kino Flo fixtures by selecting 1, 2, 3, or 4 of the heads to be on or off. The company's fixtures have been specified for use on the forthcoming Olympics in Athens in August next year.

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>Paul Butler from Mushroom Event Services had a busy show long before the doors opened, having been responsible for building the Robe Show Lighting and Studio Due stands, in addition to supplying three other stands, plus the lighting for the DJ competition. Other recent projects have included the Custom House Museum Hotel in Manchester and fitting out the new West 1 Shopping complex in Oxford Street with LED lighting.

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>A new hard drive video player, the VHD3 from Rolec took centre stage on the company's stand. Currently on trial at the Edwards chain of bars (owned by brewers M&B), the high capacity MP2 player schedules audio, video and colour graphics seamlessly.

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>Production line white speakers for churches and temples might seem an obvious change to make, but when it involves a whole range then it's apparent that Delta Loudspeakers has made a very positive commitment to this market. Also of interest was the 2015 - a new horn-loaded bandpass sub based on the company's own-design 15" speaker, capable of handling 500W continuous with a sensitivity of 93dB @ 1m 1W, SPL 123dB @ 1m; a lot of power from a cabinet just 20" square and 12" deep.

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>A unique manufacturing process allows Projected Image UK to produce high-resolution glass gobos in both monochrome and full-colour in a wide range of sizes. It also supplies metal gobos as custom designs and from its new extensive catalogue.

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>Three products were highlighted by Hall Stage. First up was the new BGV70 band hoist, a fully programmable, variable speed, load-sensing hoist designed for a variety of lifting purposes, including people flying. The band hoists don't have a clutch, so there are no components to wear out. Also on display was the new 2-channel infra red assistive listening system from Williams Sound, the TX925, as well as the innovative Hold-On clips, designed to hang and fix material without the need for eyelets. Very nice.

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>Award for Design Excellence

>Element Labs Inc

>Versa Tile

Element Labs' Versa Tile is a glowing light tile controlled by video signal that generates stunning visual effects when used in large arrays. Versa Tile is much like 'electronic wallpaper' and can be used as a modular building block for walls, floors, ceilings - or any surface for that matter. The system is available in 50cm x 50cm panels (consisting of 25 tiles) which can be joined together to create arrays of unlimited size.

Proven LED video display technology allows Versa Tile to produce a broad spectrum of colours to create an endless variety of moods. Complex sequences can be easily generated with the aid of QuickTime, Flash or other media software and displayed using the DVI output on any computer. Compared to traditional videowalls, Versa Tile offers low-cost, a thin profile, a wide viewing angle, low heat,

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>One of the most eye-catching stands belonged to Pulsar Light of Cambridge, making effective use of the ever-expanding Chroma range of LED lighting fixtures. Several additions were debuted, including the ChromaMR16 Heart, ChromaDeck modules for dance floors, ChromaPanel 300 (a smaller version of the ChromaPanel 600), ChromaCube and the ChromaBank Mk2. Also on show were prototypes of the ChromaScan moving head unit. Away from LEDs, Pulsar had its full range of other products on display, including Masterpiece controllers and the new WinLite Windows-based virtual lighting desk software, available free from the company's website.

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>Conference mic systems from Brähler ICS have been augmented this year with the introduction of the IRX, a 32-channel Infrared linked system. It offers improved sound quality and a new lighter belt pack with user access to channel and volume controls. A new alarm feature (to prevent users from inadvertently walking off with the listening hardware) is an optional addition. CDS VAN, or Virtual Audio Network allows for large rostrum mic and speaker systems to be daisy-chained with Cat5 cable; all controlled from the CDS software, which gives access to full audio DSP.

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>A compact addition to its range, the Turbosound TXD-081 contains an 8" and a 1" driver with wide-angle dispersion characteristics and a Max SPL of 122dB peak, aimed squarely at the mobile DJ market. The TSB-110 is a passive sub with a 10" dual voice coil driver: compact, with big delivery. The wave-guide for the 1" driver on the well-established TQ440 brings better pattern control and smoother delivery to the HF.
  1. Fuzion // Nexo // Kelsey Acoustics
  2. Pathway Connectivity
  3. Par Opti
  4. Garwood
  5. Outline
  6. Adda Super Cases
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