UK / Germany - Tannoy has announced that from 1 April 2004 it will have its own dedicated sales team covering the pro audio (commercial products) and residential audio markets in Germany. Two sales managers have been appointed to oversee all aspects of the new sales distribution operation.

Matthias Exner will be responsible for sales and marketing of professional products for the sound reinforcement and installation markets and he brings to Tannoy a wealth of audio experience. Initially employed as an engineer, and since 2000 as managing director of Audio-Vertrieb Peter Strüven GmbH, Matthias is especially experienced in fixed installation and DSP systems. He was involved with the Autostaat project - Volkswagen's multi-billion dollar entertainment theme park based in Wolfsburg.

Tannoy's sales and marketing director, Simon Sinclair, was keen to highlight the improved service

USA - Cunard's $800million Queen Mary 2 is the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built. Over four city blocks long, she is 100ft longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall. And when she set sail from Southampton, England on 12 January, Nautilus Entertainment Design's Bill Havens was aboard to oversee the results of their work. NED provided entertainment facility design services - including lighting, audio, video, rigging and special effects - for over 40 public spaces on this historic and eagerly awaited luxury liner. NED was also responsible for the design and commissioning of the ship wide broadcast system and editing suite.

The ship has six restaurants, 14 bars and clubs, a library, theatre, disco and casino. The first floating planetarium, 'Illuminations', provides a unique opportunity for passengers to view full colour, full motion educational and entertainment pro

UK - Software provider Stardraw.com has appointed pro audio sales and systems specialist Marquee Audio as UK reseller for the entire range of Stardraw's design and documentation software packages. Both parties regard the new partnership as an extremely positive move. "We have been Stardraw users ourselves for years and we love the product," said Marquee's Andy Huffer, "so it seemed only logical to be able to pass on the benefits to our own customers. Furthermore, as a forward-thinking company whose products are constantly evolving and developing, Stardraw's profile complements our own modus operandi perfectly."

Stardraw marketing director Rob Robinson agrees. "Marquee Audio is one of the most respected and successful names in the business for professional audio sales and systems integration in the UK, and is thus the ideal partner for Stardraw. In addit

China - Ace Hong Kong have carried out an audio and lighting fit-out in Cheng Ping - a town in Guang Zhou, Southern China - having won a competitive tender for the work. After specifying the system, Ace had to meet a deadline for the opening show at the Cheng Ping Culture Centre on the second day of Chinese New Year (January 23, 2004).

The loudspeaker management system consists of four BSS Audio 9088 Soundwebs (processing the JBL AE series Left/Centre/Right cluster). Soundweb also handles the speaker delay taps and EQ processing in an auditorium which seats 1,300 people. In an all-Harman Pro line up, Crown CTs series amplifiers power the system, and the FOH mixer is a Soundcraft MH4.

Ace was also responsible for providing the theatre lighting, with the conventional lighting controlled by ADB. The generics include profiles and fresnels while Clay Paky provide the moving lights,

UK - Audio contractor Ansabac has found an unusual application for the Symetrix SymNet digital audio matrix system - in a West Midlands bingo club. When they installed the original sound system at Shipley's Luxury Bingo Club in Redditch, the client had specified a custom-built matrix device. "But the company who manufactured it went under, and when the system also went down it was clear we needed an off-the-shelf solution," said Ansabac's Phil Parkes.

They turned to Fuzion plc's Tim Harrison, and he in turn recommended Symetrix' proprietary SymNet system. "It's often the case that our clients contact us for solutions," reports Harrison. "Ansabac were unsure how they were going to accomplish their routing and digital distribution, and we were able to show them how easy this would be using SymNet technology; at the same time we were able to help them signi

USA - In 2003, the famed US Naval Academy at Anapolis completed a 10-year renovation of the historic Bancroft Hall. Bancroft Hall has the distinction of being the largest dormitory in the world, housing the academy's entire class of 4,500 midshipmen. It has 1,873 rooms, 4.8 miles of corridors, and almost 10,000 windows.

One of the last rooms to be renovated was the historic Memorial Hall. Known for its plaques honouring past midshipmen and its "Don't Give up the Ship" motto, the Memorial Hall is one of the most revered spaces at the academy and has been used for countless Naval ceremonies and presentations over the last 100 years. As with many historic rooms, the hard reflective surfaces and high ceilings made the Memorial Hall a difficult acoustical challenge. The Naval Academy wanted to replace its ineffective portable sound system with a permanently installed audio

UK - Adlib Audio has installed a predominantly proprietary sound system into the restaurant and bar at one of Liverpool's first boutique hotel - The Hope Street Hotel - a collaboration project between three individuals, Andrew Bentley, David Brewis and chef Paul Askew. At Hope Street, the bottom line is to ensure guests are comfortable and relaxed in a well-designed environment, as they enjoy the hotel's facilities including the London Carriage Works restaurant and the resident's lounge bar.

Andrew Bentley is a concert pianist and local show promoter, so he knew the importance of sound as a creative element of making the right ambience, he said: "I chose ADLIB because I have known them for many years. Apart from getting an excellent sound for the room, they've always been straightforward to deal with."

ADLIB's Andy Dockerty was asked to design a system sympathetic to

UK - SA Sound Services of Wellingborough has just completed a full A/V installation for the 500 capacity Brickhill Baptist church in Bedford. Steve Ashley CEO of SA Sound commented: "The church had a historical problem getting intelligible sound to the rear seating which is under a low ceiling running around the entire perimeter of the room. The choice of the L-Acoustics MTD112b has solved that problem. Using an L/C/R format we were able to cover the entire auditorium very evenly and just as importantly cost effectively with just three elements".

Both Pastor Paul Woodward and Paul Templeman the resident sound engineer have confirmed that the new system is much clearer with excellent vocal clarity throughout the room. Templeman said: "There is no problem now in reaching the perimeter seating, and we have a very even SPL coverage at all frequencies around the venue.

USA - Apogee Sound International, renowned for state-of-the-art sound reinforcement products for the professional audio industry, announced that its new digitally-controlled APL-500 DSP self-powered arrayable loudspeakers and ADAM (Apogee Digital Audio Management) software were used to provide live sound at the Independent Film Producers' (IFP) Independent Spirit Awards ceremony.

The prestigious event, held this year on 28 February, annually attracts 1,300 guests and 350 members of the international press in a large tent on a beach in Santa Monica, CA. Veteran Hollywood sound designer Bruce Burns of Innovative Audio Technologies selected the Apogee equipment. Burns serves as sound designer and audio coordinator for the Independent Spirit Awards show, he commented: "This is a challenging event. We couldn't use trusses to hang the speakers, and we couldn't have any of

Germany - The X-Tra is one of the largest and best-known entertainment venues in Switzerland. International live acts such as The Rasmus, Seeed, Sean Paul and De La Soul regularly appear at the club, which has a capacity of around 2,000 people. The club's sound consultant, Granary Sound, recently searched for a new audio system, and received five tenders - one of them from the Basle-based Audio-Tech KST AG, which since the first of July 2003 has been a partner of EVI Audio.

"Our bid was undoubtedly the most expensive," confesses Edi Mosch, divisional manager pro audio for Audio Tech KST AG, "but the experts at Granary Sound considered that the EVI Audio equipment provided the most professional solution in view of the very high standards required. When it then emerged that the X-Tra's own sound engineer favoured Midas, Klark Teknik and EV equipment, nothing more st

UK - Entec Sound once again supplied the sound system for the five day Teenage Cancer Trust charity event at the Royal Albert Hall. This is the forth year that Entec has been involved with the show.

The main audio issue at the Royal Albert Hall - a notoriously challenging acoustical environment - was designing and installing a system capable of dealing with a wide variety of performers and musical genres.

The 2004 line-up was headlined by The Who, Jools Holland and friends, The Stereophonics, Tom Jones, and - for the first time - a comedy night featuring Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and others. Entec supplied a centre speaker hang comprising of d&b C4/7 enclosures, which matched the distinct curvature of the famous venue, with B2 subs under the forestage, and C7/690 ground fills. The main array was four wide and seven deep left and right, and it followed the same sonic princ

UK - Opus Audio Developments, designer and manufacturer of high-end PA systems based in Plymouth, UK, has announced the appointment of pro audio sales specialist, Alan Lochhead, to handle its sales throughout the UK and Eire.

Andy Fox, managing director of Opus, explained: "During the past three years Opus has embarked on an intensive research and development programme to complete a line-up of systems that we believe are unequalled for audio quality and reliability. Design of the full range of controllers, amplifiers and loudspeakers is now complete and all of the products are in production. It is now time to focus on sales and marketing and we are very pleased that we will be working with Alan, whose considerable experience in our key market sectors, including nightclub and theatre, will be a great asset to the company."

Lochhead has 20 years' experience in pro audi

UK - Inc Bar, the popular brand new club in Greenwich, has been fitted out with an array of equipment supplied by leading UK distributor Autograph Sales. Leicester-based Pro Audio Solutions was approached to complete the installation, and turned to Autograph Sales because of its reputation for supplying high quality products and service to the installation market.

The bar was designed by flamboyant interior designer and local resident Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, famous for his hosting of TV's makeover show, Changing Rooms. Pro Audio Solutions installed Meyer Sound's MM4 miniature loudspeakers, which are highly compact at just 10cm³, ideal for the setting of the Inc Bar, where sound reinforcement needed to be powerful and clear yet unobtrusive. 10 MM4s were used alongside two controllers with further Meyer Sound loudspeakers in the form of four UPM-1Ps. In addition to the lo

USA - Symetrix's SymNet Audio Matrix family of network linkable audio matrix DSP processors is continually finding its way into new and unique applications. Recently, Johnson Knowles, resident technical guru at the Dallas-based Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG), integrated SymNet into an all-digital recording studio setup to operate as the 5.1 monitor system controller.

Last year, RBDG designed a brand new studio facility featuring an SSL C200 fully digital mixing console for Bicoastal Music in Ossining, New York, which has just opened for business. Searching for a sonically pure piece of audio equipment with which to control the proprietary RBDG-designed 5.1 monitor speaker system at Bicoastal, Knowles turned to SymNet. "We've previously used SymNet in several home theatres and home theatre showrooms," he says. "And now we've designed the first control room monitor

UK - The Legion Public House and Social Club in Shoreditch recently commissioned a high-specification sound system from design and installation company, Marquee Audio. The 300-capacity venue is operated by Quadcrest Ltd - which includes the team instrumental in the success of the Social bars in London and Nottingham. They thus needed the flexibility to present a varied DJ programme by night, along with music from background CD (and the Social's trademark jukebox) by day.

One of the directors of the operating company, Brian Davis, had previously used Marquee Audio to fit out a bar in London's Smithfield Market. Thus when he secured the site of the former printing works in Old Street, which had been empty for two years, he had no hesitation in renewing the acquaintance, citing: "quality sound, reliable back up and competitive pricing" as the principle reasons. "I ne

UK - Sennheiser UK has announced the sale of Lab.Gruppen FP-6400 power amplifiers to Concert Sound of Luton. The amplifiers will be used to power Concert Sounds' JBL VerTec system for the forthcoming Eric Clapton tour.

The major tour starts in April and will follow the release of the new Me And Mr. Johnson album in which Eric Clapton pays a unique tribute to seminal blues innovator Robert Johnson. Taking in Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield the tour culminates with a remarkable six-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Commenting on the purchase, Tim Boyle of Concert Sound said: "We have had a very long-term association with Eric Clapton and, again for this tour, chose Lab.Gruppen because of the outstanding sonic performance and excellent reliability. We needed a substantial 48 Lab.gruppen FP-6400s to power the rig a

USA - Mike Wood, former chief technology officer at High End Systems Inc, has founded a consulting company, Mike Wood Consulting LLC, based in Austin, Texas. The company's main focus is to work with clients on new technology implementation and R&D strategy, new product definition and evaluation, and intellectual property (IP) specifically as it applies to the entertainment technology industry.

Wood, an industry veteran, has led technology development and has been responsible for the technology strategy, R&D, standards and IP in many different companies. His career spans more than 25 years with firms varying in size from 10 to 25,000 employees and for the past 20 of those years he has been at the senior or executive management level. During his career he has worked for both start-up and established companies and has been a member of executive teams responsible for acquisitions a

UK - In just two short years since the Legend 3000 started shipping in March 2002, the landmark 500th console has rolled off the production line and graced the Midas stand at ProLight & Sound 2004. Immediately after the show it was on its way, destined for Palestine where it is to be installed into The Ramallah Cultural Centre on the West Bank.

While Palestine is bound to raise eyebrows as a destination as it remains one of the world's most politically unstable areas, this sale is typical of the new markets that Legend has enabled Midas to penetrate. The perfect multifunctional console, the Legend 3000 is the world's only console that can mix monitors from front-of-house without compromise; perfect for live music clubs, conference centres or theatres. In addition to performing both functions simultaneously, Legend also handles dedicated FoH or monitor applications equally well;

Italy / Sweden - With the valuable collaboration of B I Dalenbäck of CATT of Gothenburg, Sweden, the R&D department of Italian manufacturer Outline has designed and tested a software interface for the powerful CATT-Acoustic acoustic modelling program,with which it is possible to design, configure and simulate the performance of Outline's Butterfly series vertical line arrays in any configuration.

Outline has designed this plug-in for the CATT-Acoustic DLL Directivity Interface (DDI) which, called up by the program when required, offers designers accurate modelling capabilities for complex systems, based on every conceivable VLA configuration of elements from the Butterfly range, including a combination of Hi-Pack and Low-Pack units.

Results achieved by the DLL, based on proprietary modelling techniques for the simulation of linear rather than single-point sources, have been c

UK - Creative sound and installation specialists CP Sound has completed a comprehensive audio and AV refit at Bootsy Brogan's bar and restaurant venue in Fulham, West London. The themed Irish-style venue is owned by Glendola Leisure, for which CP Sound has completed several other projects. Bootsy's Fulham has proved such a popular and busy site that the original sound system was unable to serve the space as it now functions.

CP Sound's Colin Pattenden first troubleshot the venue. He sampled it at several times of the day, including extensively during peak capacity, and then came up with the new sound design for the background music system which features a wide variety of musical styles and genres!

He decided to add new JBL Control 28 speakers across four zones, plus additional bass bins under the seating. The Control 28's were chosen for acoustics, size, reliability and cost-e

UK/Germany - PA/VA manufacturer Millbank announced the appointment of Atlantic Audio as German distributor for their expansive product portfolio at Pro Light + Sound 2004 in Frankfurt.

Millbank has been a driving force in public address and voice alarm systems since its inception in 1967 and over the years has become synonymous with innovation and quality with thousands of installations across the globe.

Benefiting recently from its acquisition by Ampekko Ltd, Millbank continues to set a precedent for ground breaking solutions, which are all compliant with UK and European Cenelec, standards, namely BS5839 pt8 and EN60849. Complementing Atlantic Audio's portfolio of leading edge pro audio products that includes Renkus-Heinz and XTA, Millbank offers products for both centralized and digital networked systems.

From London's Underground networks through to Harrods, Chase Manhatt

UK - Sennheiser UK announced the launch of the Sennheiser TourGuide EK 1035 Receiver at the Museums & Heritage Show, which runs from the 12 - 13 May at Earls Court. The EK 1035 is a body-pack receiver, designed to ensure flexible and reliable UHF transmission.

Featuring 10 receiving channels, this compact receiver is ideal for multi-channel set-ups and can be used with any transmitter from the extensive evolution wireless series including the new evolution G2 products, recently launched by Sennheiser.

Accessories for the EK 1035 includes the L1035 charger, with the facility to daisy-chain up to four chargers, and the NT 1035-UK plug-in mains unit, which accommodates up to four L 1035 Chargers. Sennheiser will also be showing a wide range of Infrared, TourGuide, GuidePort and SDC (Sennheiser Digital Conference) products at the Show.

Simon Jones, business area manager for Inst

USA - Apogee Sound International has selected Metalfx Inc as its lead manufacturing and assembly partner for its full range of professional loudspeaker and electronics products. With the next ISO audit in May at the Metalfx facilities, the production of Apogee loudspeakers will be included in the Metalfx ISO 9001 certification. Located north of San Francisco in Willits, California, the company has over 150 employees and two world-class production facilities covering over 220,000 sqft. It's customers include companies such as Agilent, Ciena and Hewlett Packard. "We're excited to add Apogee to our distinguished client list," said Gordon Short, president of Metalfx, "and proud to partner with a company respected for quality that is second to none".

Prior to moving production from Apogee's Petaluma facility to Metalfx' facility in Willits, engineers from both com

USA - A new company has been formed to chronicle, produce and distribute a shared history of production touring from the perspective of industry professionals. Roadcases, founded by Paul Dexter and Larry McNeny, is in its early stages of development, beginning with a website along with a new idea for a cable television series and a future book.

Dexter has been writing steadily in American industry magazines since early 2000. "I wrote an article early on called 'Is there Life After Rock'n'Roll Touring?'" says Dexter. "After touring, going out into the real world with rock'n'roll attitude was a huge shock. I need freakin' therapy now and I've discovered that I'm not the only one."

McNeny and Dexter met on Ozzy Osbourne's 'Diary of a Madman' Tour in 1981-82. McNeny was the tour manager, as he had been for the BeeGees and Eric Clapton, and Dexter was Ozzy's l

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