UK - Cornered Audio Systems will participate at PLASA09 in cooperation with UK distributor MilTec.

At the exhibition, Cornered will show a new version of the existing Cornered top-boxes. The SU - Speak-Up - versions combine Speaker and Uplight in one practical solution. The SU versions feature an LED spot in either the top and/or bottom plates delivering up- and/or downlight. The LED uplight works well with the flush mountable Cornered cabinets, so the SU versions gives customers an opportunity of getting ambient light without installing separate lighting fixtures, says the company.

Different LED sports are available, starting with a 1,2watt/40 lumens LED which is connected through a DC plug integrated in the recessed speaker cable terminal.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - Proel Group has launched a new Proel Group Professional Division based in Sant'Omero, Italy, focused on the complete portfolio of professional Audio, Lighting and Video products.

Turbosound and Proel Group Company has appointed this specialist team to focus on marketing the UK loudspeaker company's expanding portfolio of professional audio products to the Italian market.

Effective from 1 September 2009, a new distribution agreement means that the Italian live production and audio installation markets will see a noticeable increase in the profile, supply and technical support of Turbosound's innovative ranges of loudspeaker systems.

Staff from the Proel Group Professional Division - together with Italian rental companies Hollywood Service and Lovato - visited Turbosound's factory in August for product training, and also took in a product demo at London's Music Bank re

UK - The new JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker system will be the main focus when Meyer Sound returns to PLASA09. Also shown on the stand will be the new UP-4XP ultracompact loudspeaker, which is powered by a remote 48V power supply and suited for installations as well as portable applications.

The self-powered JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker system provides precise horizontal control in a seamless, tight-packed array, while exhibiting an impressive power output of 138 dB max peak SPL at one metre, says the company.

The JM-1P's consistent polar response and trapezoidal enclosure allows for tight-packed arrays with each JM-1P cabinet adding 20 degrees to the horizontal coverage of the array, with minimal overlap in high frequencies. An array of three JM-1P loudspeakers provides 60 degrees horizontal coverage; an array of four JM-1P loudspeakers provides 80 degrees of horizontal coverage,

UK - Singer songwriter Dan Black, is currently touring Europe and the festival circuit with an innovative audio set up from Allen & Heath's iLive digital range.

Black's FOH engineer, Steve Pattison, has selected a compact touring system comprising an iDR-32 MixRack and a laptop loaded with iLive Editor software, which he uses as a virtual control surface. The system not only mixes FOH audio but also wedge and IEM monitor requirements.

"I'm running the iDR rack and that's it... no desk, no surface, just the stagebox, which is mounted into our onstage loopstation," says Pattison.

Pattison runs looms out of the loopstation to the band's mics and DI's and a loom into the house system so that all the mics and DI's run straight into the stagebox and from there are output to a master L&R mix and 3 wedge mixes, which are fed into the house multicore. For monitors, two line

UK - AV Magazine, in association with Sysco and Studio Simple, will host a special presentation (free to all registered PLASA09 visitors) that looks behind the scenes of one of the year's highest-profile AV projects - the British Music Experience at London's 02 Arena.

Entitled Going Interactive At The British Music Experience - A Look Behind The Scenes With AV Magazine, the session will be held on Tuesday 15 September from 3.00pm - 4.00pm in the Whitehall Room, Earls Court Two.

The use of AV was pivotal in helping to achieve the objectives of one of the most challenging installations of this year, the British Music Experience at O2. Carried out by system integrator Sysco, working alongside Land Design and software designers Studio Simple, ISO and Clay, the installation packs in top-end kit at almost every turning to incorporate the audio and the visual into a sea

UK/The Netherlands - At this year's IBC show, Rycote will exhibit its new affordable camera-mounted microphone windshield and shockmount system for videographers and consumers.

IBC offers international customers and press their first chance to see the new system since it was announced earlier this summer. Known as the RUCK (Rycote Universal Camera Kit), it offers videographers, video production companies and consumers everything they need to protect high-quality camera-mounted mics from wind noise and unwanted vibrations from the camera's operator and motor when working on location, says the company.

The kit's InVision Video Mount assembly is based on Rycote's patented vibration-resistant Lyre shockmount technology and accepts microphones from 19 to 25mm in diameter, including the popular flat-sided Sennheiser MKH range. The mount's dual Lyres can be placed at different distan

UK - The newest addition to the Audient console family, the Zen is the focus of a UK tour organised by distributor SCV London, where the next stop will be music technology retailer Digital Village in Clapham, SW London.

At the 23 September event at Digital Village, visitors will have chance to pick the brains of Audient's product specialist, Steve Flower.

Starting at 2pm and running through till early evening, Zen will be on show alongside other products from the Audient range. Flower says: "Zen is such a great console, it's important to get as many people in front of it as possible. We're looking forward to getting users excited about using Zen to lift their whole experience of recording up to a new level."

Launched at this year's Pro Light & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, Zen is a compact, classic recording and mixing console, combining analogue mixing technology

UK - D.L. Electronics, Northern Ireland, has recently installed a Duran Audio AXYS Intellivox system in St Patrick's Church, Dungannon.

St Patrick's was designed by J.J.McCarthy, one of the most notable Irish architects in the 19th century, and the building was dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 11 June 1876. The church is 130ft long, 65ft wide and 60ft high and the new sound system, installed by D.L Electronics, was part of a £5 million refurbishment of the church which started in 2007. The project was not only about refurbishment and repair, but also a work of restoration and conservation.

David Dalzell, owner of D.L.Electronics reports: "We have been installing Intellivox products in highly reverberant spaces now since 2002, in my opinion it's the only choice when you're faced with a difficult acoustic. Their ability to steer the beam onto the audience and reduce the r

China - Located in Jiangbei City, the Chongqing Grand Theatre is home to a 1850-capacity (Grand) and a 930-capacity (Medium) theatre. L-Acoustics loudspeaker systems have been installed as part of an upgrade, supplied by Chinese distributor Rightway Audio.

The larger of the two spaces has been designed as a leading world-class venue capable of hosting opera, dance drama, ballet, symphony and other large-scale variety shows, while the smaller theatre focuses on small and medium-size performances, such as dance, drama, modern drama, vocal performances, orchestral music, chamber music, folk music and so on.

In the Grand Theatre, left and right arrays each encompassing 14 Kiva ultra compact line source array cabinets with four Kilo low frequency extensions have been flown on either side of the proscenium arch. An additional two L-Acoustics full-frequency 115XHiQ cabinets have also

UK - Sennheiser's charity golf days have become an annual highlight with the company, its customers and suppliers alike. As well as providing an excellent way to informally discuss both business and pleasure, they also have the very serious purpose of raising significant amounts of money for good causes.

10 July this year saw around 100 Sennheiser customers and staff take part in the 14th charity golf day held at Mill Ride Golf Course, Ascot, with a remarkable £17,000 being raised for the Caron Keating Foundation.

Set up in memory of late television presenter Caron Keating, the Foundation raises money to offer financial support to carers, complementary healing practitioners and support groups dealing with cancer patients, as well as individuals and families who are affected by the disease and to cancer charities in the ongoing quest for early diagnosis and effective trea

UK - When the owners of London's Regent Street, The Crown Estate, decided to open a pedestrianised food quarter in adjoining Heddon Street, a quality background music system was high on the list of items needed to create an ambient atmosphere, and first stop was the Bose store on Regent Street for advice.

Bose store manager, Alex Richardson, referred The Crown Estate and its partner the Regent Street Association on to his colleagues in the professional systems division and it wasn't long before a full design and specification was drawn up to meet the very specific requirements for the area. Not only did the system have to meet the creative and operational requirements of the members of the Regent Street Association in Heddon Street, but Westminster City Council's stringent planning guidelines and the aesthetic requirements of the Regent Street brand, also needed to be accommodat

UK - BEIRG, the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group, which is busy campaigning for the performance and event industry's continued access to the radio spectrum following the digital switchover, has made an appeal to all users of wireless equipment to give their input to the campaign. BEIRG's statement reads as follows:

On 30 June 2009, Ofcom published a statement setting out its decision to clear the entire 800MHz band. This means that if you have wireless equipment such as radio microphones and/or in-ear monitors which operate in channels 61-69, they will be rendered obsolete by 2012/2013. Enforced eviction from the 800MHz band will mean major cost implications for everyone who owns affected equipment.

Ofcom and the Government agreed to the principle of putting a funding mechanism to replace affected equipment. Last week, Ofcom published a consultation - Clearing the 80

UK - System integrator Sysco saw its extensive audio-visual interactive work in the new Darwin Centre at London's Natural History Museum unveiled to the world's press this week, ahead of the public opening on 15 September 2009.

The £78 million Darwin Centre, a new extension to the museum, occupies a spectacular eight-storey-high concrete Cocoon suspended within a glass outer box. It allows museum visitors and scientists to share for the first time the excitement of exploring, studying and preserving the natural world.

Sysco is lead AV contractor on the project, on behalf of project managers Cultural Innovations. Cocoon features an array of exhibits in a curved walkway that spirals through several of its floors. The exhibits make full use of state of the art technology to enhance the visitor experience and provide easy access to multiple layers of information.

Sysco's w

UK - Soundcraft has added the Si1 digital live sound console to its Si Series. In just nine months, Soundcraft has now launched three models in this range, picking up five industry awards in that time, commending the Si console on its ease of use and simplifying the transition from analogue to digital.

The new Si1 has a compact footprint of just 1200mm width, meaning it fits nicely into space-restricted areas such as theatres, small venues and Houses of Worship.

As standard the Si1 has 32 mic inputs mapped on 16 faders, and with four dedicated Stereo Line channels, four dedicated FX Returns from the four stereo Lexicon FX processors can mix up to 48 inputs. Eight balanced insert sends and returns are provided, along with the same bus structure as the Si2 and Si3 of 24 Group/Aux busses, eight matrix busses and a full complement of monitor talkback and main bus outputs. These bu

Italy - "The production was lengthy and challenging, but finally we have released the 6PR150 driver, for mid-frequencies, just as we wanted it" stated Flavio Naggi of FaitalPRO. With this announcement, FaitalPRO has officially launched its latest professional range loudspeaker for mid-frequencies.

"Practically, the only part of the original project is the basket" - confirmed Flavio Naggi, FaitalPRO overseas sales manager , "a year of continuous improvements because it just did not respect the design input of both the marketing and the R&D department. Therefore, we went back to the drawing board, worked a lot on the details, adopted a number of special solutions and materials, and in the end we achieved the product we wanted."

The new 6PR150 boasts a waterproof cone created with a mix of cellulose pulp and a variety of long mineral fibres. The trea

UK - Defying the economic gloom-mongers PLASA09 opened its doors this morning with registrations matching last year's record breaking total of 15,000 - a sure sign that this year's show is going to be as high energy as ever.

There will be more for visitors to see, as more new exhibitors have signed up for the show at Earls Court, bringing the total of new and returning exhibitors to over 50. The education and learning programme has also been expanded with two audio-related masterclasses from previous Gottelier Award winners, Tony Andrews of Funktion One and John Stadius of Soundtracs/DiGiCo.

Another new addition to the Show is the Supply2.gov.uk Lounge, a central feature area giving exhibitors and visitors the chance to get advice from Supply2.gov.uk - the portal which helps SMEs gain access to public sector contract opportunities, typically worth up to £100,000.

Anoth

The Netherlands - The new Luxor Theatre in the major Dutch harbour city of Rotterdam has installed a new Alcons loudspeaker system. The search for a new system began in 2006 because the old system did not meet the current requirements: the Luxor wanted a versatile sound system which could be used by all visiting companies, as its programme varies from musicals to variety shows and stage plays to rock concerts.

An extensive inventory resulted in a pre-selection of three manufacturers, including Alcons. These brands were invited to demonstrate their system during a special demo event. Luxor had chosen for a unique approach for this day. Not only the in-house Luxor technicians but also several famous Dutch sound designers and engineers, familiar with the Luxor Theatre, were invited to give their opinion. Also present were some other employees of the Luxor Theatre which were asked t

UK - DiGiCo unveiled the latest addition to its digital mixing range at PLASA09 in London yesterday - the SD8-24. The small-footprint console measures under one metre in length, with no reduction in functionality or the number of inputs and outputs.

DiGiCo SD8, launched at PLASA show last year, was an instant hit for the manufacturer, with record numbers sold since its launch. Now, DiGiCo believes it has once again produced a product to suit the industry's changing needs. "A lot of our customers in the corporate world were hard hit at the start of the credit crunch," says James Gordon, DiGiCo's managing director. "Recently, they've been telling us that work is starting to come back. This is great news and we wanted to do something to address the needs of the rejuvenating market. Designing a smaller footprint SD8, but without reducing any of its features, seemed th

USA - Oxford, Ala.-based Sound Solutions recently completed the first house worship installation of the new Electro-Voice EVA compact line array at Centre of Hope Church in Anniston, Ala.

EVA was selected to upgrade the sanctuary sound system at Centre of Hope, to better serve the church's steadily growing congregation and meet the needs of its weekly services and in-house Christian rock band.

"The space is about 90ft wide by 120ft deep, and seats around 1,000 people," says Joey Hutto of Sound Solutions, "and contains some quite reflective surfaces, including a tile floor, a small balcony, and a metal ceiling. We needed to provide the sonic power and intelligibility they needed, along with highly controlled coverage and long throw; we also wanted to avoid the added expense of delays. Line array was the obvious answer, and our EV Rep Steve Land (EDA Pro Group) to

UK - Tannoy is proud to be exhibiting on Stand 1-L39 at PLASA09, the UK's leading professional audio and lighting expo, in partnership with Red Square Audio, the exclusive UK distributor of Tannoy's VQ Live.

As well as demonstrating the VQ Live system, designed for the rental/hire sound market, Tannoy are also be exhibiting the latest developments in the successful VQ Series installation range. Initially launched early last year, VQ Series has been expanded with the addition of 6 new devices (each available in passive or VNET powered) including new mid-high MH and down-firing DF enclosures with a variety of horn formats including 40 deg conical, 60 x 40 degree and 90 x 50 degree.

These new modules offer the systems designer an extremely flexible set of tools with which to build tightly packed compact arrays for a multitude of applications ranging from small to very large scale

UK - Cloud Electronics has reinforced distribution throughout Australia and New Zealand with the appointment of Victoria-based National Audio Systems (NAS).

NAS serves the MI, professional and commercial audio markets via an extensive dealer network. Paul Turner, commercial audio division manager, comments, "The addition of Cloud to the NAS commercial division adds significant desirability to the commercial range from NAS."

Turner adds, "At NAS, we are extremely excited to be appointed the Australian & NZ distributor for Cloud. With a product of such high reputation and reliability, NAS is honoured to represent Cloud in the region. It is a fantastic step forward for both companies and the start of a very long - and fruitful - relationship."

(Jim Evans)

Taiwan - Fantasy Sound International and Proel have provided the sound at Kaohsiung Arena, which will be one of main stadiums for World Games 2009.

Located in the Kaohsiung City in south Taiwan and constructed in 1998, Kaohsiung Arena is one of the biggest domes in Taiwan. Currently occupying an area of 56,000sq.m, the multifunctional sports arena has a seating capacity of 15,000.

On 28 September 2008, the Kaohsiung Arena was officially opened after a lievely traditional Chinese Lion-Dance and all the guests saw the Proel Speakers making their debut at the Arena.

The City Mayoress, Ms. Chen welcomed all the guests in the grand opening ceremony and stated, "This arena will be a place not only for sports but also for concerts, speeches and even arts exhibitions in the near future. Apart from that, the sound system in this building is terrific."

Proel Sound Reinforc

UK - Gareth Collyer has been appointed as Nexo's new sales manager for the UK and Ireland, spearheading a new distribution programme.

Nexo is exhibiting at PLASA in its own right for the first time in nearly 20 years, marking the recent strategic move away from third-party distribution to direct manufacturer support for the UK market. As Nexo's regional manager, Gareth Collyer will take charge of a network of elite dealers, with a brief to expand and consolidate Nexo's profile in the UK and Eire.

Collyer is well-known to the pro-audio industry, having spent the last four years bringing Harman's professional brands to the UK's installation and tour sound markets. He has an extensive track record, having spent his formative years in sales and market development with Bose UK and Lamba plc. He joined Harman Pro UK in 2005, where his career trajectory through the company and its pr

Polished Performance - Sir David Attenborough brought the 115th BBC Proms season to a close on Saturday night by playing a floor polisher as a musical instrument. Sir David was joined on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London by pianist Stephen Hough on the vacuum cleaner. Comedian Rory Bremner also took part in the performance of Sir Malcolm Arnold's piece A Grand, Grand Overture. The eight-minute work has parts for two other vacuum cleaners, four rifles, an organ a and full orchestra.

For the first time, the Proms finale was screened via satellite to cinemas on every continent of the world. The BBC said the two-month classical music festival had been the most successful yet with a 32% increase in under-16s attending. Proms director Roger Wright said the event had included "outstanding and inspiring music-making".

Goodnight Vienna - The tribute conce

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