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The PLASA Awards for Product Excellence were presented yesterday evening in the New Technology Gallery in front of a packed audience. This year’s awards attracted one of the largest tallies of nominations ever - 64 in total - across the categories of Lighting, Sound, Audio-Visual and Stage Engineering.

The judging panel of freelance lighting designer Simon Swift, sound system consultant Richard Northwood of Coms UK, Live Business International’s technical director Roland Hemming, freelance AV consultantPhil Pike, system designer Glyn Hughes of Sysco, project manager Andy Hayles from Theatre Projects Consultants, technical consultant Mark Jones of the Royal Albert Hall and Jason Tang, general manager of Bandit Lites (UK), deliberated over three days to decide the winning products in each category.

In the Lighting category, Clay Paky’s Stage Profile Plus SV received

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Canford announced new additions to the EMO range at PLASA. Retrofit variants on the E450 cable tester that now permits cables fitted with EP connectors to be tested, in addition to 4- and 8-pole Speakon connectors, 3-pin XLRs and A-gauge jacks.

The EP Retrofit kits permit cables fitted with EP 4-, 5-, 6-, or 8-pin connectors to be tested. The EP connectors fit in two pre-punched holes on the rear of the tester accessed by removing the blanking panel. The unit’s flying leads plug directly into connectors mounted on the tester’s PCB.Separate kits are available for each of the EP connector types so users only need to purchase those which they come into contact with regularly. The E450 will test for continuity, cross connection, and open circuit in cables fitted with the above EP connectors just as it does for 2- or 3-pole A-gauge jacks, 3-pin XLR connectors and NL8FC 8-pole an

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The 25th PLASA Show closed on a high yesterday thanks to one of the most positive shows in the event’s history. Business was high on the agenda for all exhibitors - many of which reported the highest levels of business they’d ever done, some saying that they had signed up orders of significant size at the show. The exhibition was buzzing practically from the moment it opened and the visitor count will significantly outstrip last year’s figures.

The show was active on many levels - the PLASA Product Awards for Excellence attracted one of its highest number of nominations ever with 64 products displayed in the L&SI sponsored New Technology Gallery - a clear indication of the importance of the event as a showcase for innovation. The Masterclass, Seminar and Round Table sessions that ran throughout the show added to the appeal of the event, allowing visitors to learn more

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Entec Sound and Light has supplied full lighting production, plus sound control and a monitor system, for Alanis Morissette’s European tour.

The company, who have worked with tour manager Andy Proudfoot on other tours, won a competitive tender to supply lighting and crew for the European section of the tour. They also worked closely with Clair Brothers Europe/Audio Rent in Basle, Switzerland, to ensure the tour had the precise audio package required, which involved the new Clair Brothers i4 line array speaker system.

Lighting

LD Jim Fitzpatrick’s design - produced in conjunction with Proudfoot - is a dynamic asymmetric rig consisting of six trusses - a 60ft angled front truss, a 50ft rear truss and four others ranging between 24ft and 40ft, all hung at erratic angles. Onto this - scattered randomly - are 26 High End Studio Colors and 16 Martin MAC 2000s - t

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Biamp Systems has appointed Carlos Otero as its new Latin American regional manager. Otero has an Electronics Engineering degree with an emphasis in digital control from the University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia, and has 20 years of audio design, manufacturing and installation experience. "Carlos was a part-owner of one of our very successful Colombian distributors, Disctronics, and was very effective in the positioning of various brands for this company," commented Graeme Harrison, Biamp’s vice president, international sales.

(Ruth Rossington)

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The 40-year old Sydney-based National Institute of Dramatic Arts has just moved into its gleaming new home. The new NIDA building was funded by an AUS$25 million grant from the Australian government, bolstered by an AUS$10 million sponsorship programme to complete the complex. This latter fund was kick-started by donations from two of Australia’s best known exports - Mel Gibson and Rupert Murdoch.

The most prominent feature of the new building is the giant aluminium veil that encloses the auditorium of the Parade Theatre and juts skyward through the glass roof of the foyer. This veil reflects daylight into the expansive foyer space that currently houses examples of student costume design. At night, nine Griven Kolorado fixtures light up this aluminium veil in a sea of colour.

At the heart of NIDA is the Parade Theatre - a727-seater drum-shaped venue that is a far cry from the

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Entec Sound and Light, the leading live music lighting and sound rental company, is supplying a complete lighting system for London’s world-famous Marquee club. The high profile live music venue - now located in Islington, London N1 - re-opened last week with a star-studded event headlined by top rock ‘n’ rollers Primal Scream. This installation marks an historic continuation of Entec’s association with the Marquee club. The Marquee brand name is now owned by former Eurythmics pop star Dave Stewart of the Artists Network, and entrepreneur Mark Fuller (behind London’s trendy Sugar Reef and Embassy Club). The strength and driving force behind the new Marquee is Artist Network director and Group CEO Tony Quinn. The club’s day-to-day running is headed by the club’s general manager Matt Talbot.

The new Marquee reopens complete with a £4 million fit

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Surrey-based Delta Inc, one of the leading audio supply and design specialists serving the corporate and live events market, has recently purchased two Radiocom BTR 700 wireless intercom systems from UK distributor Orbital Sound. Specified by Delta's Jonathan Bell, the BTR 700 is a revolutionary duplex intercom system, which allows for seamless on-site communications between all members of any production team.

Over the summer the BTR 700 has been deployed on many high profile events including The Commonwealth Games, The Edinburgh Festival and The Golden Jubilee Weekend celebrations. At the latter, Orbital supplied one of the largest BTR 700 systems to date. Deployed for stage management, and sound teams on-site, it also played a vital role as the official cue mechanism for the Queen when the Jubilee Beacons were ignited, setting off a chain of beacons across the UK and the sensational

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Functioning as Ethernet audio bridges, EtherSound ES8in/ES8out offer an easy and affordable way to install and distribute up to 64 channels of high-quality audio using standard Ethernet switches and CAT5 cabling. "These two new products represent a milestone in the digitalization of audio installations, which have historically been built on traditional cabling, patch panels and matrices," said Digigram managing director Philippe Delacroix.

EtherSound ES8in injects eight analogue balanced audio signals into an EtherSound network, while the EtherSound ES8out extracts eight analogue audio signals out of an EtherSound network. The network set-up is as easy as plugging in an Ethernet cable, say Digigram. System set-up, control and re-configuration are operated remotely via straightforward PC software and no specific IT expertise is required. Applications include synchronous high-q

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At the PLASA Show last week, Canegreen’s Yan Stile acquired a Yamaha PM1D digital desk from Yamaha commercial audio dealer, Marquee Audio, in time for the Toploader tour, which kicks off in early October. Stile, who heads one of the UK’s leading and longest-established rental companies, said he was happy to be using the PM1D given its popularity elsewhere at the top end of the touring circuit. In particular, he praised the support given to the sale by Yamaha’s Mike Case and Marquee Audio’s Glen Smith. "We have a long association with Yamaha products through the PM3000 and PM4000, and now the digital desk," he said. "It’s surprisingly cost-effective, with all the onboard digital effects, and frees up a lot of analogue space."

Andrew Thornton will be mixing Toploader’s sound at front-of-house, while a second PM1D will also be used f

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SSE Hire Ltd has been appointed an approved supplier of audio equipment and services to the National Union of Students Ents divisions. SSE Audio projects executive Malcolm Mellows commented: "We are delighted that the company has been awarded this recognized status. We have already been active in the NUS market - indeed we’ve commissioned large installed PA systems at Warwick and Sheffield Universities over the last year - but it’s good to be recognized to have achieved the standards required to be an approved supplier."

(Ruth Rossington)

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Acustica Beyma announced the launch of its G40 Series of professional low frequency drivers. The range includes 10" and 12" models featuring 3" voice-coils, and larger 15" and 18" drivers (up to a maximum of 600W power handling) based around 4" voice-coils and double-spider suspension. The established ND Neodymium series has also been extended to incorporate a 15" speaker, 115Nd/W.

Canadian audio manufacturer Adamson has a new twin 18" sub for its acclaimed Y10 line array system, available this November. Designed to be flown alongside the line system, the sub also incorporates fittings for use as a stable base for ground-stacking the whole system.

Adastra Electronics has seen a great deal of growth in the last three years, with an increased staffing level on the PA installation side and within the company as a whole. In 1999, it had a staff of

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Lamba added some star quality at this year’s PLASA Show, when recent chart act XPress 2 made a date to visit the company’s stand. The dance trio - Rocky, Diesel and Ashley Beedle, who recently hit the number two spot with Lazy (a collaboration with Talking Heads’ David Byrne) - took the opportunity to confirm an endorsement deal with Stanton Trackmaster II cartridges. Much of the considerable time spent by the three musicians at Lamba was devoted to a demonstration of Final Scratch, where they stood in rapt awe as Stanton demonstrator, B-Side, put it through its paces. Diesel said that the record’s success had greatly enlarged their audiences (they had just returned from a major festival in Japan). "Sometimes people expect you to spend two hours sounding like Lazy - all dark, druggy and tribal."

The story began some years ago when Byrne got hold of a p

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Pro audio specialist Audient has sold an ASP-8024-24 recording console to Latvia's only Radio Station for use in its new Outside Broadcast Van. The sale, via Amptown Sound & Communication Baltic division, Audient's dealer in Latvia, represents the first sale of an Audient console in the Baltic States. The purchase also signals a change in concept for the radio station from digital to the Audient analogue console. Andris Uze, managing director for ASC Baltic Division says: "I first saw the ASP console two years ago at an AES exhibition and I immediately realized its potential in terms of price and good design."

He continues: "I decided to recommend the ASP console for the OB-Van because I have not found anything comparable on the current market as most analogue consoles of this quality are much more expensive. The ASP is able to fit in a limited cabin space without losin

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Crestron have extended and upgraded their award-winning 2-Series control systems, using a new Dual-Bus control engine, based on the 257 MIPS, 32-bit Motorola ColdFire processor, as the core of their redesign. As a result, the 2-Series is an ideal solution for control, distribution and automation of audio, video, lighting, security and HVAC in any application.

Onboard 36MB memory is enhanced with a 4GB expansion slot that supports off-the-shelf Type II compact Flash memory and the IBM Microdrive hard disk drive, allowing on-board storage of programme and touchpanel files, room and equipment profiles, firmware, upgrades, databases and schedules.

With this radically new Dual-Bus architecture, blinding speed and massive memory, 2-Series systems are built for high performance, secure Internet communications and dynamic expansion capabilities. The Dual-Bus system also allows for upgrades t

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Digigram, the digital audio network solutions specialist and French national broadcaster Radio France, a pioneer in radio digitalization, have announced at IBC 2002 a technological partnership to implement innovative audio networking solutions as part of Radio France’s digitalization program. Digigram's expertise in digital audio networking, especially it's mpX Platform launched at IBC 2002, will help in the design of new IP-based architectures for Radio France stations France Inter, France Info, France Bleu and Le MOUV' radio stations.

"We are proud to join a pioneer like Radio France in its efforts to build a new kind of network centric broadcasting infrastructure," said Digigram managing director Philippe Delacroix. "Radio France’s selection of the new mpX Platform as a cornerstone of their IP architecture proves that Digigram has the vision to provide the

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Since taking delivery of the first six Klark Teknik DN9340 ‘Helix’ digital equalizers in early July, EFX Audio of Edinburgh have been busy putting the new units to use. The most recent outing was at Scotland’s answer to the Reading and Leeds festivals, the Mean Fiddler’s Gig on the Green in Glasgow. Like their southern counterparts, Gig on the Green was a two-day festival with headliners Prodigy, The Offspring and Slipknot on Saturday and Pulp, the Strokes and Jane’s Addiction on Sunday.

EFX managing director John Ramsay chose to use the Helix units on the monitor system on the main stage where he had two Midas Heritage 3000 consoles complementing the Midas XL4 and Heritage 3000 out front. "The DN9340s performed fantastically well," said Ramsay. "This was the first big gig we’ve used them on and we’ve been patting ourselves on th

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The theatrical sound design and rental specialist, Autograph Sound Recording, was recently asked to join the UK's most prolific producer, Raymond Gubbay and his creative team, at London's Royal Festival Hall for the staging of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. A breathtaking neoclassic production, not seen on a West End stage for more than 15 years.

Terry Jardine, sound designer for Follies and Autograph's managing director, chose a new and unique loudspeaker product for this show, the Insider 665. A line source product from Sweden, manufactured by LLW, the Insider 665 was being used for the first time in the UK, typical of Autograph's innovative approach to new products. This new Swedish loudspeaker has been designed to handle wide and long distance coverage in large indoor venues, synchronized with pure sound reproduction. Six cabinets a side were used at the Royal Festival H

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At the PLASA Show on Tuesday 10 September, EAW’s '2002 Installation Company of the Year' Award was presented to Light Sound FX of Coleraine, Northern Ireland. On hand to accept the award from Phil Price was LSFX’s managing director Darren Gardener. He said in accepting the award: "This is a great tribute, not only to us at LSFX, but to the products and the back-up we receive from the EAW team." Phil Price added: "This has been a great year for EAW contracting products and obviously there can only be one winner - Darren and his team have done a great job."

(Lee Baldock)

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A new state-of-the-art ‘IBBISS’ Help Point system, designed for use within the London Underground tube network, has just had its ‘Development Progress Demonstration’ functionality tests by leading integrators/installers and London Underground Infracos. This latest Help Point system comes from a new manufacturer, IBBISS Ltd (Interalia Baldwin Boxall Integrated Security Systems). IBBISS is a joint venture between two leading communications manufacturers, Interalia and Baldwin Boxall, who believe that the system will soon become the first choice for many Help Point installers.

In late 2001, various parties approached Interalia and Baldwin Boxall and requested that the two companies join forces to design and manufacture Help Point systems. Of course, they listened with great interest and in November 2001 three presentations were hosted by IBBISS Ltd to London Underg

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Lamba plc, UK distributors for Stanton products, scooped two top awards in DJ Magazine’s T-Scan Awards, which were held during the recent PLASA Show at the fashionable Momo Restaurant in London’s West End. The revolutionary Final Scratch was rewarded in both the MP3 Hardware and Most Innovative Product categories, and Stanton Magnetics’ export manager, Laurent Cohen was on hand to collect the awards.

Final Scratch allows bedroom DJs to enter and control the digital world. Its patented technology allows real-time manipulation and scratching of digital music files such as .wav and MP3 - from conventional analogue decks. Using any standard turntable and mixer set-up, a DJ can manipulate digital sources by hand, and with vinyl, while out on the road a DJ can now carry his entire system to a gig in a travel bag.

Certainly Final Scratch proved to be a popular winner, as D

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With two and a half years of technical sales at CIE Group behind him, Chris Fearn has moved to one of the company’s principal suppliers, Wharfedale Pro. In an expansion of the company’s sales force, Fearn becomes northern area sales manager, including Scotland, with responsibility for the installation market and MI markets. "This is an exciting time to be joining, with the launch of the powered EVP-S range, which is aimed at several different sectors of the market," said Fearn. "I will also be seeking to get the Programme 50 and Programme 52 more exposure in the installation market."

Prior to CIE, Chris Fearn worked in AV and domestic audio as part of a career that has so far spanned 12 years in the industry. Wharfedale Pro sales manager, Dean Davoile, commented: "This appointment is in line with our UK expansion strategy and will enable us to provi

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Following the success of its previous open days and the demand for a repeat event, Caterham-based direct marketing company Smart Sound Direct has confirmed 2pm Sunday 17th November as the date for its Winter show, which will be held at Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey.

Entertainment will be provided by various performers and DJs who will demonstrate the company's full complement of MSA PA enclosures, monitors, power amps, mixers, rack-mounted effects and accessories. New product lines include the upgraded version of the newly developed Smartlight range of lightweight speaker cabinets. These include bass bins which, when coupled with a power amp and mixer from the SmartLight line, provide what is claimed to be the lightest, portable, compact PA package available.

Visitors will also be able audition a variety of innovative products, including the CP8SP (currently the only

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Apogee Sound International, manufacturer of state-of-the-art sound reinforcement products for the professional audio industry, has announced that Steven Walker has been named managing director, assuming full managerial responsibility for the company.

Walker joined Apogee Sound in February 2002 as general manager. Since then, he has re-directed Apogee's resources, accelerating new products and marketing initiatives, and implementing new manufacturing efficiencies and quality controls at the company's headquarters near San Francisco. Michael P. Fleischer, President of Bogen Communications Inc, the parent company of Apogee Sound, commented: "Our plan has always been to 'let Apogee be Apogee.' We're excited to have Steve dedicated to continuing and enhancing Apogee's reputation for making the finest professional loudspeaker systems in the world. Apogee Sound is in very capable hands.

  1. London Parties in the Park
  2. Success of PLASA Show boosts business confidence
  3. Digital upgrades in classical theatre embrace TiMax
  4. Luminar uses new technology for flagship Chicago Rock
  5. Grandmaster Flash Rocks PLASA
  6. Delta Sound handles Mercury Music Prize
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