Lebanon - The Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Centre's Sky Bar, whose roof terrace is open to the stars during the hot summer nights, features a Turbosound installation.

Long-time Turbosound client Thunder Electronics specified weather-resistant TCS Compact series loudspeakers for the project. 12 TCS-121CW, 16 TCS-081CW, eight TCS-20 and eight TCS-215CW have been installed, with control by an LMS-D24 processor and sound from CD decks and DJ mixers.

"Sky Bar opens at 8pm each evening and functions as a chill-out lounge with food and background music," says Thunder Electronics' Louay Agha. "Then at midnight it fires up as a nightclub, with DJ sets and occasional live performances. So the loudspeakers need to be able to cope with a variety of different kinds of music and maintain excellent sound quality at different volume levels.

"Because of our

UK - APR Audio reports on another successful Glastonbury Festival, supplying EV X-Line and XLC DVX systems for the third year and winning a repeat booking for 2009.

As last year, APR Audio provided sound reinforcement for the Jazz World Stage. This year's system deployed 10x X-Line Xvls and two Xvlt per side, with 10 x X-Subs per side ground-stacked on towers, and another 12x X-Subs on the floor. Front- fills were handled by 6 XLE cabinets.

All amps were P3000RLs running Iris-Net. The FOH console was a Midas XL4 with a Heritage 3000 on-stage with Helix and a Rapide for EQ. Wedges were EV XW15 with drum and side fill provision from X-Array systems.

APR's Matt Gunter was on hand as crew chief and primary system designer for a busy stage that hosted the Fun Lovin' Criminals, Eddy Grant, Buddy Guy and Estelle.

"Jazz World is generally regarded as the musicians' stage,&quo

Lexicon is now shipping its PCM96 professional stereo reverb/effects processor. Featuring an array of complex reverb algorithms with related delays and effects, the single rack-space PCM96 integrates seamlessly into the modern studio as a control-only DAW insert or FireWire streaming hardware plug-in, says the company.

Following in the tradition of the PCM60 and PCM70 signal processors, the PCM96 offers a comprehensive selection of Lexicon reverbs and effects, including the return of the Concert Hall reverb. Appearing for the first time are new Room and Hall algorithms, plus an assortment of new mono reverbs and effects. Selectable, reversible reflection patterns, multimode filters, and 'infinity switches' provide additional new capabilities.

With two channels XLR analogue and two channels XLR AES/EBU digital I/O, as well as MIDI, Wordclock, Ethernet and Firewire connectivity, the PC

UK - Switzerland-based Barix will showcase its range of Audio over IP technology at PLASA 08, including a new, alternative firmware application that can be integrated into all of its hardware devices. The firmware is suitable for studio and central office applications where Barix Audio over IP hardware can be utilised as solid state players, including music on hold applications; and store and forward applications for hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. For in-store media, the Barix Audio over IP solution offers a less expensive and more flexible option than satellite solutions.

The new firmware encompasses a simple BCL programme added to Barix Exstreamer decoders and Annuncicom intercom/VoIP devices to enable a store and forward application. The store and forward application enables local playout at the destination from the Barix device, which communicates with the central s

France - For the past 10 years, the Ile de France region has supported the Solidays music festival to raise AIDS awareness. A play on the words solidarity and holidays, Solidays is dedicated to both concepts, and its timing in the event calendar means it usually represents the kick-off for the festival season in France.

As this year was the 10th anniversary of the festival, a fifth stage was added and a vast electic selection of hip hop, rock, reggae and techno artists invited to perform. French PA company Melpomen, which has provided PA support for the last decade, was able to utilise three generations of Nexo's Geo Series line array loudspeakers in their FOH systems.

For Nexo, this festival has always been a important platform to illustrate the benefits for larger stages in utilizing FOH systems based on cardioid technology. Out of the five stages, the two larg

UK - The promise of new technologies and applications, plus a dramatically expanded educational programme, has helped drive the PLASA Show to its highest-ever pre-registration figures, with a record total of over 10,000 industry professionals already registered to attend.

With the show a year on since its redesign, the one-floor, two-hall layout has been refined and expanded to allow for new and returning exhibitors, say organisers PLASA Events Ltd.

And with new products topping the 'wish list' of the majority of visitors, there's no doubt that PLASA08 will definitely deliver, according to show director Nicola Rowland. "There's a real buzz building around the wide range of technologies and expertise on offer at the show and how these can be applied across the industry. It's a unique chance to see how projects are being delivered, how lighting, sound and AV systems are bei

UK - dbx Professional Products - presented at PLASA 08 by Sound Technology - has introduced two new direct injection boxes into the product line. Representing a new category of product offering for dbx, the dB10 Passive Direct Box and dB12 Active Direct Box offer professional signal processing solutions. The aggressive styling of their solid, cast-metal chassis is a departure from the usual utilitarian look of most direct boxes.

The dB10 Passive Direct Box includes all the basic features you would expect from a work horse direct box, but provides additional value not found in budget direct boxes, says the company. Its three-position pad switch easily accommodates instrument, line level and speaker level signals, while further versatility is added with its selectable polarity invert and high-cut filtering functions.

The dB12 Active Direct Box includes all the features of the dB

UK - Out Board will feature the next generation evolution of its TiMax Audio Delay Matrix, TiMax2 SoundHub at PLASA 08. In its ShowHub 'S' guise, the TiMax2 control software is configured specifically for programming and running shows and events, whilst the RoomHub 'R' version is optimised for more mainstream AV installations needing similar comprehensive audio processing resources but with less focus on real-time showcontrol or audio animation.

TiMax2 SoundHub will be joined by the PLASA debut of Out Board's latest showcontrol product, the TiMax Tracker UWB radar system which makes performers' audio image or other effects automatically follow their position onstage in 3D space.

Out Board will also be hosting the Dolby Lake processor range of loudspeaker management and EQ processor and PC Tablet software, for which the company acts as UK and Ireland distributor. Products from

UK - Vaughan Sound Installations specified, supplied and installed a complete integrated digital signage system throughout Swansea's new LC2 leisure centre, together with sound systems for the Main Hall, Gym and Wave Pool areas, plus AV/presentation systems for three function rooms.

Previously known as Swansea Leisure Centre, the facility has recently re-opened after a £32 million refit as a state-of-the-art water park and health and fitness centre.

Llanelli-based VSI supplied 32 Mitsubishi LCD commercial displays of various sizes, which are installed around the building. In the reception area, a 10m semi-circular Trilite truss is flown in the ceiling, and fitted with five screens showing general information and opening times.

For the 'Peak' multi-level Gym, VSI supplied a full sound system consisting of two arrays of flown TOA F2000 speakers, carefully positioned to g

UAE - Gearhouse Staging Connections has secured an exclusive three-year appointment as the event services partner of the new 1539-room ocean-themed Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah - the flagship resort of the man-made palm-shaped island development The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

A culmination of almost two years of planning with Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah management, the contract marks the group's first foray into the high-growth venue services market in the United Arab Emirates.

Gearhouse Staging Connections will assemble an onsite team of 15 "world-class technical and client services personnel" from its Dubai and Australian operations to deliver conferences, concerts, launches and events of any scale at the prestigious resort. The company will also install a range of multi-million-dollar audio-visual technology into the resort's facilities.

Staging Connections Group CEO Michae

UK - BSS Audio has added four new members to its Soundweb London family of digital signal processors.The new BLU-800, BLU-320, BLU-160 and BLU-120 join the BLU-80, BLU-32 and BLU-16 devices in the series. HiQnet London Architect, v2.00, provides support for the four new devices and several significant feature additions.

A dedicated and comprehensively featured Room Combine Processing Object abstracts the complexity of room combining applications and reduces programming time for such applications. The addition of Dynamic Metering allows efficient troubleshooting of Soundweb London systems through the use of simple signal presence monitoring.

BSS at PLASA08 - stand D22.

(Jim Evans)

Netherlands / UK - Dutch loudspeaker manufacturer Alcons Audio has recently opened a dedicated UK base, which will be headed up by Stephen Badham.

"In general we have adopted the philosophy that we want to have our own presence in key territories that have an international influence," says managing director Tom Back. "Germany is a domestic market that is very interesting to us in terms of volume, sales and appreciation of the technology we have and our success there has shown that our faith in this approach is justified."

Back continues, "The UK is important in many ways. It influences the European music scene and it also influences the US. We have noticed that through the relationships UK companies have in the US market. Taking all that into account, setting up the UK operation was never a matter of if, it was purely a matter of when."

"Pr

UK - JBL Professional is extending its Control Contractor series loudspeakers to an even wider variety of applications with the new Control Contractor 40 Series premium in-ceiling specialty loudspeakers. On show at PLASA 08 for the first time in the UK, several of the models incorporate JBL's conical Radiation Boundary Integrator (RBI) technology, providing "broad and consistent pattern control with superior sonic performance".

"As customer expectations for audio quality continue to increase, we are pleased to introduce a new ceiling speaker line that not only provides extended bandwidth and improved fidelity, but also saves the customers money by covering their space more evenly with fewer speakers," said Rick Kamlet, senior market director, commercial sound, JBL Professional. "With the introduction of the Control Contractor 40 Series, JBL's lineup of h

Russia - Leading acoustic design company Munro Acoustics has been appointed to work alongside Russian company Cineko in renovating the Grand Palace Theatre, the famous 6,000-seat concert hall inside the Kremlin in Moscow.

The hall currently hosts a diverse programme of music and theatre, including concerts for television broadcast and is in need of extensive renovation. Munro Acoustics have been tasked with giving the hall's acoustics a complete overhaul.

Managing director Andy Munro said: "It is a great honour to be selected for such a prestigious project but I do not underestimate the technical challenges involved. Fortunately, we have been working on similar auditoria concepts for some years now and we have proven the techniques that will enable our design to achieve the client's objective of a truly flexible performance space."

The hall was originally designed

UK - After an extremely rigorous testing and selection process, London-based Britannia Row Productions - one of the UK's leading providers of live audio systems - has recently taken delivery of 80 Yamaha T5n power amplifiers to significantly boost its rental inventory.

The company was looking for a high quality, general-purpose power amplifier, which could be used with a range of point source PA and stage monitoring systems and could also effortlessly cope with the diverse range of events that Brit Row services.

"We wanted to find a model of amplifier that can work in a wide variety of situations, will deliver consistently high performance levels and will be extremely reliable," says Brit Row director Mike Lowe.

"We have a wide range of systems in our rental stock, therefore having to maintain and service as few types of amplifier as possible has obvious benef

UK - Following a period of significant growth over the last five years, Audio-Technica has recently restructured its UK operation to offer increased levels of customer service and to provide a solid foundation for future expansion.

Amongst the important changes for Audio-Technica UK, Isabelle Alran has assumed the position of European sales director and will take an active role in the day-to-day UK sales operation.

Audio-Technica's UK area sales managers will now report directly to London-based Alran and the drive to improved customer support will see them partnered by dedicated area sales co-ordinators at the company's head office in Leeds.

In addition, newly appointed UK sales and marketing assistant Tom Harrold will assume responsibility for building on relationships with some of Audio-Technica's smaller accounts, allowing a direct point of contact for independent reselle

UK - Impact Products (Europe) Ltd, a leading trade-only supplier of professional audio and lighting products, is highlighting five leading manufacturers at PLASA08.

Adding to its comprehensive collection of amplifiers and speakers, Brooke has two impressive new ranges of line array speakers, suitable for every kind of venue from small club to stadium.

Rhino have introduced the robust Twin Table DJ Rack Case, whose removable doors with folding legs fix securely to the 19" flight case to form two tabletops for decks and mixers.

Business manager Keith Williams says: "We are proud to now be the stocking distributor for Litestructures and exclusive stocking distributor of US-based Chauvet Lighting in the UK."

Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, Chauvet's new MiN Spot is a portable moving head LED fixture with RGB mixing and nine gobos, whilst Impact's P

USA - Loud Technologies Inc - owner of a stable of pro audio brands including Mackie, EAW and Martin Audio - has announced the resignation of chairman and CEO Jamie Engen after more than 10 years with the company. Replacing Engen is Rodney Olson, who has over 20 years' experience in executive roles.

"Over the past ten years, Jamie has played a critical role in growing Loud Technologies into the industry leader that it is today. We appreciate his contributions and wish him the best," said Tom Taylor, the board member who led the search for Engen's successor. "We are fortunate to have a strong successor to take over the reins and continue our growth efforts."

Olson joins Loud Technologies after a decade with Cardinal Brands, a Kansas-based $170 million office products company, where he has served as CFO, president and, most recently, CEO for the past two year

USA- Billy Joel's Last Play At Shea marked the end of an era of historic concerts at Shea Stadium. With a star-studded line-up of musicians making guest appearances throughout the evening including Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks, Steven Tyler and Roger Daltrey, Billy Joel performed the last concert at the stadium. With the help of Sir Paul McCartney (who played the first concert at the stadium with The Beatles in August 1965), Billy Joel closed the show by accompanying McCartney on piano with a surprise version of Let It Be.

Joel's world tour began in January 2006 and has been touring ever since. The 2008 segment kicked off in Philadelphia, PA in January, making stops in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, Quebec, Louisiana, Connecticut, Virginia and finishing up with two shows in Flushing, NY at Shea Stadium. Joel resumes the second leg of his world tour with dates

UK - Heading Turbosound's presentation at PLASA08 will be the new Flex Array series, which combines elements of line array theory with proven virtual point source technology in one loudspeaker product, and is aimed at providing rental companies with a one-box solution for a variety of venues and audiences.

Flex Array's Polyhorn and Dendritic horns are combined in a compact rotatable waveguide which delivers a phase-coherent wavefront with 75°h x 16°v coverage.

Available in switchable bi-amp/tri-amp and self-powered guises, the Flex Array mid/high cabinet is complemented by a single 18" horn-loaded bass enclosure. The digitally self-powered TFA-600HDP has been nominated for a PLASA08 Award for Innovation.

Flex Array cabinets feature two independent load-certified integrated flying systems, which enable quick and easy rigging with the minimum of external parts. Th

UK - Mayfair's Zeta Bar at the Park Lane Hilton - already outfitted with JBL loudspeakers by the Sound Division Group (SDG) four years ago - has now transformed into Whisky Mist at Zeta. This has given the same installation company the opportunity to add a further generation of Harman Professional sound reinforcement products to the existing infrastructure, from the catalogue of UK distributors Sound Technology

The new bar and club is a joint collaboration between the Hilton, two of London's most successful nightlife pioneers, Nick House and Piers Adam, Jacobi Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe and Marc Burton.

Open from 5pm every evening, with last entry at 2am, SDG's managing director David Graham knew instinctively how to transfigure the sound system in this sophisticated venue to optimum effect, having previously collaborated at the chic Mahiki for House and Adam.

Working

UK - Three Allen & Heath iLive digital systems were employed for a recent outdoor festival featuring Liverpool's Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Managed by Kent-based PA company, SRD Group, and engineered by classical specialist, Ian Barfoot, the event employed SRD's newly purchased iLive systems to manage FOH and monitors, with a third system provided by Barfoot.

"We manage a lot of festivals and chose to invest in iLive because it has a simple interface for analogue desk users and provides full DSP to every input and output. For instance, it is important that we have a graphic EQ across every output and can still use the onboard effects," commented SRD Group's MD, Stuart Roberts.

The orchestra featured a full complement of instruments including 20 violins, mixed by an iDR10 Mixrack and iLive-112 control surface at FOH, with a second identical system controlling the o

UK - L&SI has learned that after nine years with PRG Europe, Alan Thomson has ceased to work for the company as of 8 August. Previously a director of PRG Europe based at Croydon, Alan was unavailable for comment, but L&SI understands he is considering a number of challenging opportunities.

In over 30 years of working in the theatre, Alan's clients have included Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh, on productions such as Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Oliver. He was responsible for overseeing the lighting aspects of the VE and VJ celebrations in London in 1995 and in 2002 had a major role in the theatrical lighting support for Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

With many years of experience working in the Middle East, Alan has supplied lighting equipment and services to the Royal families of the United Kingdom, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and

UK - Void Acoustics reports that its loudspeaker systems, control electronics and power amplifiers have been installed in The House Club and Terrace, in Greenwich, London. With design and installation by Essex-based Cosmic Electronics, the system represents the first part of a phased upgrade of the club's audio facilities, featuring Void's Stasys 8 subs and Impulse 3t mid/highs, with Mycro 8 full-range compacts as fills and DJ monitors. The success of the Void installation has already resulted in plans to re-equip the venue's other rooms to the same standard, using Void-based systems.

Mark Damon, director of Cosmic Electronics, comments: "The House and Terrace is a top venue, and one of south London's most up and coming clubs. Closely linked to Space in Ibiza - with monthly Space nights - the club had already experienced Void products, such as the Mycro 8s as DJ monitors in

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