Sound

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27 February 2025

UAE - Optocore has awarded Thomsun Trading, its long-term partner in the Middle East, with its Best Distributor Award, in respect of outstanding performance over the past 12 months. The presentation was made during ISE 2025.

Although Thomsun has been Optocore’s distributor right across the GCC region for over 15 years, “the relationship between Optocore and Thomsun continues to grow,” according to Optocore sales manager, RadhaMohan Rajani.

“As the Middle East region sees continued growth, so Thomsun, who have offices around the region, are perfectly placed to continue representing us well, providing quality support locally. Their experience with our solutions makes them a perfect partner.

“Jose Dos Santos (senior marketing manager), our contact there, is a fantastic mediator between us and local clients who require our solutions or

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27 February 2025

Canada - K-array has become a go-to brand for AV integrators working in the restaurant scene across Canada’s Québec region.

"Restaurants in Montreal and the Québec region overall place significant emphasis on creating the right atmosphere, and high-quality audio is a key component of that," explains Daniel Huard of DDH Audio. "Music plays a central role in shaping the customer experience, making the integration of good-quality sound systems essential."

The restaurant industry in the Québec region has seen a move towards the popularity of all-in-one nightlife in recent years, with many new restaurants including sit-down dining, bar areas and live entertainment within one space. The concept is that customers can spend an entire evening in one place, avoiding the need to travel between bars, restaurants and clubs.

These establishments range

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27 February 2025

Germany - Located in the heart of Berlin, MAAP's experiential retail space merges cutting-edge design with cycling culture. As a premium performance cycling apparel brand, MAAP is known for ‘seamlessly merging aesthetics with performance while crafting physical spaces that embody its brand ethos’. When the Berlin MAAP LaB opened, sound was recognised as a pivotal element in shaping the customer experience, and Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers have been integral to the project's success.

The Berlin MAAP LaB focuses on fostering a sense of community. “Our LaB is a cultural touchpoint for the cycling community, a space that connects with Berlin’s dynamic spirit,” says Matt Ward, manager of MAAP LaB in Amsterdam, but who played an active role in the Berlin project. Ward has a long history as a music professional and led the effort to transform sound into

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27 February 2025

UK - The latest creation from the team behind MEATliquor, BLOODsports combines the most enjoyable elements of sports bar and ‘dive’ bar into a nightlife spot in the heart of London’s Covent Garden. With a menu featuring classic MEATliquor dishes, the bar broadcasts live sports all day and night, followed by late-night horror movies, with elements of classic horror films woven into the bar décor.

Having worked with founder Scott Collins on AV system design, implementation and maintenance for the MEATliquor chain, London-based systems integration specialist, Tateside, was on board with the project from the outset.

“We’ve worked with MEATliquor for around five years, so we were enthusiastic to be a part of this new concept,” says Jack Cornish, technical director at Tateside. “You don’t find many sports bars around these days, and with i

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26 February 2025

Germany - At the 30th edition of Prolight + Sound (8-11 April 2025), the trade fair will present a significantly expanded ProAudio area. With innovative formats, optimised education and networking opportunities, and a focus on future-oriented technologies, the area will become a central hotspot for professionals and young talents, say the organisers.

Music and audio technology have always been essential elements of the event industry and are deeply rooted in the DNA of Prolight + Sound. In 2025, the trade fair will expand its offering for audio engineers, DJs and producers.

A number of well-known companies from the Pro Audio sector have already confirmed their participation in 2025, including Amate Audio, Babbel & Haeger with various sales brands, DAS Audio, Harmonic Design, HK Audio (Music & Sales professional GmbH), Kling & Freitag, KV2

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26 February 2025

India - In November 2024, Stagemix Technologies, the exclusive Indian distributor of Adam Hall Group brands LD Systems and Gravity, organised three roadshow events in the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. The Stagemix team presented the extensive portfolio of the two brands on site. The focus was placed on the LD Systems Maila line array system with its flexible application options in the live, event, and fixed installation sectors.

The three well-attended roadshow stops were aimed at distributors, rental companies, system integrators, and installation service providers. The portfolio on display was correspondingly diverse: Maila for venues and medium-sized events, the LD Systems Tica series for permanent installations in various application areas, LD Systems Anny for musicians and mobile sound reinforcement applications, as well as the comprehensi

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26 February 2025

USA - Crane Club, a vibrant dining experience located in the heart of NYC’s Meatpacking District and created by the Tao Group, has officially opened its doors. To complement the restaurant's elegant design, the venue sought an audio system capable of delivering exceptional sound quality across multiple floors, that varied in needs.

Tao Group enlisted Anthem Productions to complete this seamless audio integration for this 24,000sq.ft space and requested 1 Sound loudspeakers.

In the grand yet intimate double-height main dining room, Anthem integrated 1 Sound’s Cannon C6 and C8 loudspeakers. The extended low end of the Cannons is especially valuable for a seat that might be further from a subwoofer, that seat still clearly hears the full vocal range down to 60 or 55Hz.

The distributed Cannon C6s and C8s were mounted using the Swivel Mount ac

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26 February 2025

USA - EAW has announced the hire of Mark Posgay as vice-president of global sales. In this newly created role, Posgay will assume the management of EAW’s global sales channel. He will be responsible for leading and scaling global sales teams, building strategic partnerships and ensuring the organisation’s sales operations are aligned for growth.

“Under Mark’s leadership, we look forward to growing and strengthening our sales partner network and maintaining healthy and predictable sales performance, the fuel for our business,” says T.J. Smith, president of Eastern Acoustic Works. “I am pleased to welcome him to the executive leadership team at EAW.”

Posgay has been a part of the professional audio industry for over 20 years where he has held multiple global sales roles. Most recently, he worked at Sennheiser as the global sales VP for pr

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25 February 2025

USA - Sennheiser has announced that the company has joined the North American Spectrum Alliance, a project of the non-profit North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) committed to identifying and taking action on technical and operational issues affecting radio and television broadcasters in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The alliance unites broadcasters, rightsholders, venues, and the entertainment industry to protect the critical radio spectrum used for broadcasting, wireless microphones, cameras, and other production tools – a goal that Sennheiser has been actively pursuing, too, both as a company and as a member of various associations.

The North American Spectrum Alliance presents a strong, unified voice for spectrum retention in a broadcast and production environment that is marked by recent spectrum reallocations and plans for po

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25 February 2025

USA - ATK Audiotek, a Clair Global brand, supplied live audio reinforcement and a stadium-wide communications network to the Super Bowl LIX, hosted at the 83,000-capacity Caesar's Superdome in New Orleans on 9 February.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles took centre stage for the NFL action, which saw the Eagles reign supreme in a sports battle that was accompanied by Clair Global touring client, Kendrick Lamar's Halftime Show.

ATK has worked across 27 Super Bowl games in a row, ensuring the event – produced by Roc Nation and DPS (Diversified Production Services) – is executed with technical prowess.

This year, almost 130m broadcast viewers tuned in as ATK devised the in-bowl audio, pre-game, Halftime, and in-game stadium sound, alongside the vital site-wide comms. The scope also extended to distributing audi

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25 February 2025

UK - To celebrate their ninth birthday, Salford’s Hope Mill Theatre put on a production of Nine, a Tony-Award winning musical centred around fictitious film director Guido Contini. The story is set in Venice, Italy and covers Contini’s struggles with writer’s block, marriage breakdown and a distressing midlife crisis. Featuring an all-star cast, including Ruthie Henshall and Ramin Karimloo, the production took place at The Lowry’s Lyric Theatre using an audio system from KV2 Audio supplied by Autograph Sound.

Theatre sound designer, Nick Lodge, who was in charge of audio for the production, comments: “I have worked with KV2 on multiple productions in the past and have total confidence in their ability to provide a system that meets the unique demands of musical concerts. The pristine sound quality and transparency of KV2 loudspeakers is al

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25 February 2025

UK - The Westfield London Shopping Centre is inviting its customers to “step into a world of light, colour and wonder” for an inaugural winter light experience called Here We Glow. Based around a number of outdoor light art sculptures, it is designed to dazzle visitors of all ages, and will run until the beginning of March.

Of the eight commissioned exhibits, two - Shifting Visions by Adam Povey Lighting and Tessellis by Italian Angelo Bonello - are brought to life by sympathetic soundscapes delivered through Martin Audio loudspeakers.

The audio system for both of these quite diverse features has been designed by David Gregory, at London-based Clay Productions.

The company specialises in delivering large-scale immersive projects, and in the case of Shifting Visions they have deployed Martin Audio Adorn

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25 February 2025

France - The city of Lyon (France) recently hosted the 47th edition of WorldSkills, an international competition that brought together nearly 1,400 young competitors from 66 countries, aiming to inspire youth through excellence in vocational skills. Held across several sites in the city, this global event welcomed 140,000 visitors and featured opening and closing ceremonies worthy of the largest sporting events, planned and executed by Groupe Novelty.

The WorldSkills opening ceremony kicked off in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron at a sold-out LDLC Arena, in front of 12,000 spectators.

Two Groupe Novelty companies, Novelty Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (Novelty AURA) and Alabama Média, handled all technical requirements for the event under the direction of Stéphane Simmat, technical director for the opening ceremony, and

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25 February 2025

South Africa - For three weeks in November, Time Square’s 8,500-capacity SunBet Arena in Pretoria is home to Afrikaans is Groot, a series of performances devoted to Afrikaans music and culture. 2023 was the first outing with DiGiCo Quantum consoles and in 2024 the audio team increased their capacity with a Quantum 338 and Quantum 326 Pulse at Front of House and Quantum 338 at the monitor position.

The 2024 edition was Afrikaans is Groot’s biggest year yet, boasting nine shows over two weekends, with over 70,000 people enjoying the experience. Kyle Freemantle is head of audio for the production and has overseen the growth over the last decade. He offers his insight into why DiGiCo continues to be Afrikaans is Groot’s console of choice.

“DiGiCo consoles are at the top of my list because of their flexibility regarding Optocore

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24 February 2025

UK - Dear Evan Hansen brought an aesthetic focus on social anxiety to Broadway and West End stages, vividly and musically. In doing so, the theatrical production received considerable critical acclaim, nominated for nine Tony Awards and winning six.

The arrival of Fourier Audio’s transform.engine, and especially its recent v1.2 software enhancement, which adds features like Cuelists that can snapshot the entire state of all currently loaded plugins and MIDI control to fire Cues, has played a key role.

“Finally, a proper bona fide solution to plugins on a DiGiCo console,” says Tom Marshall, the sound designer for the current UK touring edition of Dear Evan Hansen, now in the midst of its 29-city run. “I put the transform.engine on my list as soon as I knew it was out there and working and as soon as I knew that the v1.2 updat

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24 February 2025

Canada - SFM has announced an improved comprehensive range of professional services designed to empower channel partners with the best AV solutions, under the new Plus branding.

SFM, which is now part of the international AV distribution operator Midwich Group, was instrumental in the initial development of the Plus global professional services offering.

Plus offers a range of services tailored to meet the different needs of each project.

“The launch of Plus is a significant step in our commitment to supporting our channel partners consistently across the globe. With SFM’s unique expertise, we're able to offer a level of support and services that truly sets us apart in the market,” says Randal Tucker, CEO and president at SFM.

“Whether it's a complex stadium project or a streamlined meeting room setup, Plus ensures our partner

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24 February 2025

Philippines - ARX Systems has announced the appointment of Manila-based Yupangco Electronics Corporation as its distributor for the Philippines.

ARX managing director Colin Park says: "The YEC Team has expressed their excitement about introducing our USB DI Series of interfaces, MSX series of signal distribution products, and AudioBox series of audio toolbox essentials to their pro audio, installation, and broadcast clients and market players in the Philippines industry.

"YEC are one of the leading music, professional audio and related products companies in the Philippines where their customer and brand support is renowned.”

In addition to ARX, YEC represents a variety of leading brands, including Harman Professional Solutions.

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24 February 2025

UK - Fabric London has unveiled the long-anticipated update to its Room 1 Bodykinetic dancefloor, marking the final stage of its Room 1 sound system renovation project. Completing a renovation that began in 2024 as part of the club’s extensive fabric25 celebrations, the all-new Bodykinetic dancefloor – the first upgrade to the floor since Fabric opened in 1999 – features 36 units of Powersoft’s moving-magnet transducer, Mover, reimagining how audiences connect with sound and vibration.

“The original sound design for Room 1 featured a groundbreaking and advanced dance floor, incorporating Bodysonic transducers. These transducers resonated the floor with silent subharmonics that travelled through the body,” recalls Matt Smith, technical manager for Fabric London.

“Combined with a quadraphonic speaker setup and impeccable audio pr

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24 February 2025

USA - Alto Professional has announced the launch of the TX4 Series of powered loudspeakers and subwoofers. Engineered for reliability, power, and simplicity, the TX4 Series is purpose-built to meet the diverse needs of live sound professionals, musicians, DJs, and business owners alike. The series is designed for a variety of applications, including weddings, restaurants, gyms, DJ booths, rehearsal spaces, and small-to-medium venue setups. Each model in the series is precision-tuned in the USA, providing consistent performance in any environment, says Alto.

“The TX4 Series is the culmination of Alto Professional’s commitment to creating reliable, high-quality audio solutions for professionals at every level,” said John Boudreau, director of product management at Alto Professional. “Whether it’s a mobile DJ set, a gig or rehearsal, or a restaurant i

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21 February 2025

Italy - Powersoft has announced the signing of a binding investment agreement to acquire from H.P. Sound Equipment 51% of the share capital of K-array. The agreement also envisages the mutual granting of call and put options in favour of Powersoft and HP Sound, respectively, on the remaining 49% of K-array’s share capital. The closing of the transaction is, to date, expected by March 2025.

Luca Lastrucci, CEO of Powersoft comments: "We are excited to announce this acquisition, a significant strategic step for our company and the professional audio market. This transaction arises from a successful partnership between two companies that have been collaborating for many years now, with a strong territorial proximity and sharing a creative and innovative spirit, both convinced of the potential to create important product and technological synergies.

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21 February 2025

Poland - Renkus-Heinz has announced a new distribution partnership with Aplauz Audio, a well-established Polish distributor.

Founded in 2003, Aplauz Audio has built a reputation as a trusted distributor of premium audio solutions. The company initially started with audio and video cabling and high-quality connectors, but over the years, Aplauz has grown into a key player in the Polish audio market, offering solutions from renowned manufacturers such as Sennheiser, Neumann, Merging Technologies and more. 

“Renkus-Heinz is a well-known and recognised brand, producing high-quality products,” says Grzegorz Fotek, president and managing director of Aplauz Audio. “When choosing brands and products for the Polish market, we prioritise quality. Renkus-Heinz fits perfectly into our portfolio and complements our other brands.

“With Renkus-Hein

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21 February 2025

USA - Sennheiser was the choice for several winners and nominees at the Grammy Awards, while the Sennheiser Group pledged commitment to the music industry by supporting the Recording Academy to bolster MusiCares’ Los Angeles fire relief efforts.

The night featured performances by The Weeknd, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Janelle Monáe, Cynthia Erivo, and Shaboozey – whose teams all chose Sennheiser and Neumann to amplify their voices, including Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 wireless system.

The ceremony looked very different this year as it was reworked to shift the focus towards the devastating situation in Los Angeles and raise funds to support those impacted by the unprecedented fires across the city that so many artists and creatives call home.

Throughout the Grammy weekend broadcasts, the Recording Academy raised over $24m for fire relief effor

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21 February 2025

USA - LEA Professional has announced its partnership with Thousand Oaks-based manufacturer’s representative, AV Partners. This partnership brings LEA’s technology catalogue to Southern California residential market customers.

This partnership will enable AV Partners to offer LEA Professional’s award-winning Network Connect series of professional amplifiers and companion Dante Connect series featuring Dante and AES67 connectivity. These series allow integrators to utilise cloud-based remote control, monitoring, notifications, and more from any internet-enabled device, allowing them to stay connected anywhere in the world.

"We always aim to offer our customers a full and complete experience when they work with us. As part of that package, LEA Professional has the ability to enhance their AV experiences,” said Eric Leicht, president of AV Partne

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21 February 2025

Cambodia - With the new partnership between LD Systems and Kfour Group Co, the Anny 10 mobile Bluetooth PA speaker with integrated battery and mixer is now available from the retailer. In addition to the Anny 10, Kfour's portfolio also includes the LD Systems Maui, Stinger, Icoa and Curv 500 series.

"LD Systems has been one of the leading pro audio brands in Cambodia for over 10 years," says Bunarong Kit, executive director of Kfour Group. "With the column speakers, we have broken new ground and created previously non-existent demand. The Anny series will also perfectly meet the growing demands of our customers and offer innovative solutions."

Markus Jahnel, COO of Adam Hall Group, adds: "We are delighted to further expand our collaboration with Kfour Group. Kfour is an experienced and trustworthy specialist retail partner that can optimally address