USA - Lake Forest, California’s Saddleback Church, the host campus and broadcast site for the sizeable worship community led by Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren, has been in its current location for nearly 25 years, but never had an audio system upgrade - until now. Seeking to improve intelligibility, the church turned to the installation division of Escondido-based Sound Image, which replaced the site’s ageing point-source system with a new L-Acoustics Kara array setup.
“There were all kinds of physical challenges,” recalls Sound Image’s Scott Coyle. “The room is basically a big square with about 200ft per side, and the back quarter of the space is bleacher-style seating. Plus, there are glass walls down each side measuring 30 feet high by 90 feet long, so we started out faced with a 2.2-second reverb time.”
“The previous PA was put in when the r

Poland - The historical Olympic Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland has been sympathetically refurbished and modernised, under a redevelopment plan that included substantial new construction. The opportunity for the project came as a result of Wroclaw being awarded host city for the 2017 World Games.
Built in 1928, the listed-monument stadium was one of the many great sports complexes constructed across Germany in the 1920s, its location becoming a part of Poland after World War 2. Restored areas include the brick exterior of the original building, along with the old clock tower opposite the main grandstand. The largest transformation has been the building of a new main grandstand with covered seating. Additionally, the venue has improved hospitality areas and significantly better access for disabled sports fans.
The re-design of the 11,000-capacity stadium, which will host spe

USA - Hard Rock Stadium is owned by, and home to, the NFL Miami Dolphins. It also hosts University of Miami football and major entertainment events throughout the year. As part of a three-year, facility-wide renovation, the re-named facility now boasts a massively upgraded sound system by Electro-Voice.
With the stadium’s addition of a roof and massive video displays, crowd noise levels are substantially higher than the original open-air design, making even coverage critical, both in terms of SPL and frequency response. In addition to the primary task of improving the fan experience through better audio, the sound system is also used for mass notification of life safety information. The Dolphins selected Diversified Systems to design and integrate the system, charging them with the task of overcoming increased levels due to roof reflections while delivering both vocal int

Sweden - Located on a tree-lined avenue, restaurant Usine adds a touch of French industrial flair to the heart of Stockholm’s business district. Featuring a bistro, tapas bar, café/takeaway and conference facilities, a zoned Yamaha audio system blends seamlessly with the venue’s aesthetics.
Usine’s name comes from the French word for ‘factory’, which is reflected in its girders, overhead air ducts and other services being left exposed and made a feature of. AV specialist Watt & Volt was contracted to design and specify a zoned audio system, choosing Yamaha CIS products to deliver high quality audio in a challenging environment of hard, flat reflective surfaces.
Controlled by an MTX5-D matrix processor, the system is divided into nine zones and features 32 VXS8 full-range, surface mounted loudspeakers, plus two IS1112 subs in the main bar/dining area, two

China - Nexo STM M28 has made its debut appearance in the great city of Shanghai, in a new entertainment venue that has become one of the main hotspots for both local and foreign visitors.
VShow, a five-year-old KTV brand, has recently made the leap into live music, commissioning the V Livehouse in the heart of Shanghai’s ‘club central’ on Huaihai Dong Lu, another sign that the Chinese nightclub and bar entertainment market is getting back on its feet. At V Livehouse, the band is the central attraction. The performance stage is embraced by high-end interior décor, superior food and beverage service, and top-class management.
For this environment, a high-specification front-of-house PA was essential. The STM M28 ‘omni’ cabinet was a perfect fit for the venue, offering high SPL from small unobtrusive cabinets. Three M28s per side were installed, fitted with 12

UK - The Little Angel Theatre (LAT) in the heart of Islington, London, is a home for puppetry. Not only does the theatre serve to inspire and ignite the imaginations of young minds with its repertoire of productions but it also works to equip tomorrow's puppeteers with the tools they need to succeed. The LAT has a lively and imaginative education programme which works with local schools and community groups as well as providing training opportunities for puppeteers and puppet makers, helping to maintain this rare art form in the UK.
In 2014, the LAT took on a second building - a disused community centre behind Islington Town Hall. After a couple of years of using it for education and rehearsal space, David Duffy head of production, decided that it could be used to stage performances. With the support of the local council, the LAT made plans to install a lighting rig, sound s

USA - Cowboys Saloon is the newest tenant at Syracuse, New York’s Destiny Mall, the largest mall in New York State and the sixth largest mall in the country. With its roots in Florida, Cowboys Saloon has opened strategic locations throughout the country, and the 13,000sq.ft Destiny location exemplifies the brand’s commitment to entertaining its patrons with a full-blooded country & western experience.
It has a live stage devoted mainly to country music, but with a healthy dose of rock music and DJ sets thrown in, and ample table and bar seating. In order to give Cowboys Saloon the most powerful sound reinforcement system possible on a constrained (and already stretched) budget, local AV integration firm Visual Technologies used 10 of Ashly Audio’s uniquely affordable, powerful, and reliable KLR-Series dual-channel amplifiers.
Rich Trombitas, regional sales &a

UK - Boasting a wide range of high quality indoor and outdoor facilities, Salt Ayre is the largest community sports and leisure centre in the Lancaster district. Run by Lancaster City Council, as well as a swimming pool, sports hall, climbing wall and soft-play area, the centre boasts a state-of-the-art health and fitness suite.
Part of a recent £5m refurbishment and development project at the centre, the gym is a modern air-conditioned facility with an extensive range of exercise equipment. In a cutting-edge setting like Salt Ayre, high quality audio systems are essential to deliver the music that is an integral part of a contemporary exercise environment. During the redevelopment, Lancaster City Council contacted professional audio specialists, Audiogenics of Carnforth with a view to installing a new sound system at Salt Ayre's gym.
The brief was to provide a backgr

Austria - Gerhard Scherer is a happy man since 24 x Robe DL7S Profiles and DL4S Profiles - 12 of each fixture – have been installed at the Theater Akzent Theatre in Vienna - a busy producing and receiving house located in the Wieden district of Austria’s capital city, famous for its culture and charm.
Head of lighting Gerhard has been working at Akzent since it was founded in 1989 in the grounds of the former Palais Nathaniel Rothschild. Its post-modern architecture was designed by Rudolf Jarosch and it offers a 455-seat main house, a studio that can accommodate 80 people and a 380-capacity event space.
When it came to the most recent technical upgrades for lighting, he was looking for powerful, refined profile LED fixtures with additive colour mixing, and Robe's DL range ticked all the boxes!
Also responsible for lighting 90 per cent of the incoming shows, t

UK – Supporters and trustees of Backup - The Technical Entertainment Charity - gathered in London on Monday evening to help raise the profile of the charity’s new name and logo in entertainment industry. Around 80 guests attended the event, which included live entertainment from Jay Johnson.
Backup exists to provide financial support to technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film, helping them to get back on their feet when their lives are disrupted by illness or injury to themselves or to family members. Previously known as Behind The Scenes UK, the charity changed its name to Backup in 2016.
Backup’s chairman, John Simpson, welcomed guests to The Hospital Club in London’s Covent Garden, which generously sponsored the event. He reiterated the purpose of the charity by highlighting some of its achievements to date. “We have helped a n

Australia - The prestigious Robert Blackwood Hall at Melbourne’s Monash University has been equipped with a versatile inventory of Nexo sound reinforcement technologies, including a new Geo M6 compact line array as main PA.
Monash is a public research university based in Melbourne, one of the oldest in Australia. Named after its founding Chancellor, Sir Robert Blackwood, the Robert Blackwood Hall has become Melbourne’s most prestigious venue outside the Central Business District, now celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Group Technologies, the Melbourne-based design and installation company, was briefed to specify and supply new audio facilities appropriate for the Hall’s different uses. “Acoustically, it ranks with the best available in Australia,” explains GT director Mark Ladewig. “It has been the venue for numerous commercial recordings for the ABC, Melbou

UK - An Avolites Arena console has been selected to control the custom designed, automated house rig on debut electronic dance music series Issue 001 at London's new, experimental cultural hub, Printworks. The 001 series sees some of the industry's most progressive electronic dance music promoters including Junction 2, Melt Festival and Knee Deep host top and emerging dance music talent.
The Arena was selected and installed alongside the rest of the event's lighting package by Poole-based lighting and rigging expert Wolf Lighting. The console is networked in the venue's 'crown jewel' event space; a 16.8m high, 120m x 30m area dubbed 'The Press Halls' on account of the original printing presses that still flank its sides.
"There was never a question of not using an Avolites console for the Printworks project," says Jonathan Oliver, director of Wolf Lighting. "We needed

Israel - The wedding industry in Israel is a massive and highly competitive sector. When Nesher Edri teamed up with entrepreneur Yigal Ben Lulu and chef Zeev Tamarov to create his new enterprise LARA as “the ultimate wedding experience”, he specified 60 Robe VIVA LED spots.
High production values have underpinned the LARA concept, so the 60 x VIVA LED moving heads are right at the core of the lighting rig above the main dancefloor. “I simply wanted absolutely the best sound and lighting and so I chose Robe - I think it's the best,” he declared.
After acquiring the land at Kannot Junction, Nesher designed and built the venue from the ground up, fine-tuning the various details to ensure everything from the architecture to the feng shui of the space is perfect.
The VIVAs together with the rest of the lighting production were supplied by Danor Theatre & S

USA - MGM Resorts International’s Park Theater is the newest jewel on the Las Vegas Strip as well as the city’s largest and most technologically advanced venue to address the latest trend in theatrical design - immersiveness.
Hosting an audience of 5,200 in its standard configuration, the $90m theatre, which is located adjacent to the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, can flexibly be expanded to accommodate 5,800 and even up to 6,300 people at peak capacity. However, regardless of the configuration, every seat feels like it’s “fifth row centre” thanks, in large part, to an L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system specified by Montréal-based Scéno Plus and integrated by Solotech’s Las Vegas division.
Although the 150,000sq.ft performance space is roughly four times the size of the Lance Burton Theatre, which previously occupied the site, the Park Theatre feels remar

UK - When Nitelites installed a permanent RCF HDL 20-A line array system in Sage Gateshead’s main 1700-capacity main room, it seemed only a matter of time before they returned to upgrade the smaller Sage Two.
Nearly two and a half years later and they have done precisely that. But given that the venue’s second room is a flexible, 10-sided auditorium, split over three levels and accommodating 430 (theatre style) or 600 for a full standing gig, the installation was going to be anything but straightforward.
Nitelites director and system designer, Andy Magee, opted for a pair of RCF’s TTL6-A as the centrepiece of the first phase upgrade, knowing that the subsequent arrival of the HDL6-A composite line array would then enable the two upper balconies to receive full 360° coverage.
“Sage Two’s sound system was falling short,” opined Magee. “The room stage

USA - America’s third-oldest college, Yale University is perhaps as noted for its Gothic-flavoured architecture as for its history and academic achievements. So, when updating the AV systems in several of Yale’s existing spaces, as well as one of its newest ones, systems integrator North American Theatrix (NAT) turned to L-Acoustics.
“We’re a preferred vendor for Yale and have worked on their AV systems in the past, so when they asked us to find the best sound solution we could for these spaces, we naturally went with L-Acoustics,” says Pat Nelson, chief operating officer of NAT, which is also an L-Acoustics Certified Provider for Install (CPi).
“Theatre and auditorium spaces are one of our specialties, so product lines like Kiva and XT were sonically and visually ideal for Yale’s orchestra rehearsal room and a recital hall. But we were also dealing with

Spain - The Musiluz Sound School, based in Malaga, has invested in Allen & Heath’s Qu-24 compact digital mixer as part of an update to the institute’s AV equipment.
Founded 10 years ago, Musiluz is a nationally renowned training centre for DJ and music production. The Qu-24 is not only used for the music production and live music courses but also post production audio for film and television.
“It is very important for us to have a compact, quality mixer that we can use in both the theory and practical classes. Our research showed that Allen & Heath had the system that best suited our needs for quality as well as functionality and integration with the most popular programs on the market,” comments Ruben Albendín, founder and director of Musiluz.
“The Qu-24 not only meets our expectations but has exceeded them! We are very impressed with the qua

UK - A.C. Special Projects Ltd. (AC-SP) has specified, supplied, installed and programmed a versatile colour-changing performance and house lighting system for the Belle Shenkman Studio at the prestigious Royal College of Music (RCM), London.
The RCM is one of the world’s great conservatoires, training gifted musicians from more than 60 countries for international careers as performers, conductors and composers. Situated in South Kensington, the RCM's teaching and performance facilities are amongst the highest technical standards in the country for musicians studying at undergraduate, masters or doctoral level.
The project brief for AC-SP was to provide a multi-purpose lighting solution for the RCM's Belle Shenkman Studio, which is used by students to make video recordings of musical performances for their portfolios.
Up until now the college had been using por

USA - The Old Church is a non-profit entertainment and event venue in the West End cultural district of Portland, Oregon. Already renowned as a space for acoustic and classical performances, the recent installation of an Alcons Audio LR7 system has made a significant difference in attracting a wider range of performers and audiences.
Originally built in 1882, a dwindling congregation meant that in 1967 an alternative use had to be found for the building or it faced demolition. A band of Portland citizens formed a non-profit organization to preserve the building and use it as a performance space to enhance the local community.
The Old Church is a contemporary, comfortable and accessible space, but the board of directors is always looking at ways to improve it. Recently they raised $272,000 with the aim of upgrading it to become a world-class concert hall. Gary Stokes of

UAE - Christie Pandoras Box is synchronizing more than 100m pixels of Float4 content at Meraas City Walk in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. City Walk was conceived as a destination par-excellence for both locals and tourists complete with upscale shopping, dining and living with a park-like ambience by Meraas, a Dubai-based holding company with extensive assets in real estate, retail, hospitality and entertainment.
Meraas approached Float4, an award-winning studio that designs and produces site-specific interactive multimedia installations, to create a digital feature for City Walk. The scope grew to encompass an outdoor digital experience that includes more than 30 LED installations, nearly 30 projectors, and a water fountain show that uses water screens. In total, there are over 100m pixels that cover a space the size of 12 football fields.
“Meraas wanted to differen

New Zealand - Allen & Heath’s new QU-SB ultra-compact intelligent mixer has been installed in the multi-purpose Returned Service Association (RSA) venue in Napier, New Zealand.
The venue, founded to provide a variety of sporting and social activities for army veterans and their families, was in need of an audio refurbishment and a more sophisticated zone controller to manage five zones. The venue offers activities from keep fit and bowls to gaming and live music entertainment.
“There are five designated zones in the venue: Main Lounge, TAB restaurant, Library, Smokers Deck, and Casino. There are a wealth of events going on, often simultaneously. For example, on a Wednesday they have a trivia night and want a laptop and microphone in the main lounge, radio on the deck and casino, and muted zones in the TAB and library,” explains Kieran McKinlay from installer,

USA - December saw the opening of Rumba Room Live, an upscale Latin-themed nightclub and concert venue in Anaheim, California. Located at the Anaheim GardenWalk and built new from the ground up, the club, which features state-of-the-art Elation entertainment lighting and video systems, has energised the nightclub scene in Anaheim. The 10,000sq.ft venue has the flexibility to host 1,000 people and hold a variety of events yet maintains a chic, intimate feel.
Working with the club’s architect and ownership to develop the design and look of the venue was Michael Betancourt, general manager at Southern California-based Props AV, the production company that designed, supplied and installed the Elation lighting and video package. “When the Rumba Room Live project first came to the table the feel that they wanted to go for was a Latin-themed nightclub and live venue with a sex

Europe - 4EVAC rerports its best ISE yet, showcasing its Compact 500 Voice Alarm System which offers a lean design footprint and makes for cost effective installation and operation.
Designed and manufactured in Europe the C500 is EN54 compliant, and in line with 4EVAC’s rigorous standards, also third party approved and certified beyond the minimum relevant European standards, including EN54-16:2008, EN54-4:2006, EN54-17:2005 and EN50130-4:2011.
4EVAC’s sales director, Albert Van der Hout, commented, “This year’s ISE was unprecedented for us. We’re delighted with so much interest now that the C500 is fully certified, in stock, and ready to purchase as a complete system including paging microphones and networking. We’ve taken orders from integrators as well as receiving distribution enquiries, making a very positive start for business in 2017.”
Compr

Sweden - The contrast between the volume demands of clubbers and the desire of near neighbours for peace and quiet always makes for a difficult balancing act. At Stockholm’s Underbara, a Yamaha system is providing high quality audio all the way from the front door to the DJ booth, but the neighbours can still enjoy a good night’s sleep.
SoFo is one of the more bohemian areas of the Swedish capital, where cafes and restaurants rub shoulders with a range of shops dealing in clothes, jewellery, design, furniture, vintage gear and other fashionable items. Located in a former cinema in the basement of a block of apartments, Underbara combines the ambience of an exclusive night club and urban lounge.
In the past, it was subject to regular complaints about noise levels, but a comprehensive renovation has seen Swedish AV specialists Watt & Volt undertake a high quality

Latest Issue. . .