Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TECHNOLOGY
AEGs O2 Arena in London is a flagship Harman Professional installation. The project involved ongoing cooperation between our acousticians and the clients consultants. The finished venue combines products from every Harman Pro brand with key components
controllable via Harmans HiQnet nework. O2 today features a worldclass music and sports arena, a smaller live music venue (Indigo2), a Vue 11-screen cinema and a bustling entertainments and restaurant district.
Harman Professional
The Harman Pro group is the worlds largest professional audio company. Its portfolio contains many of the longest-established and most widely-respected brands in pro audio today covering the entire signal chain. This includes AKG microphones, Crown amplification, BSS Audio, dbx and Lexicon processing hardware, Soundcraft mixing consoles and JBL loudspeaker systems all purpose designed for a wide range of mission-critical applications. These industry reference products can function either as stand-alone tools, or be placed on Harmans proprietary HiQnet protocol to form a complete, and fully-integrated digital solution.
Sound Technology Ltd is the exclusive distributor of Harman Pro brands in the UK and Eire. Working alongside contractors, consultants and leading rental/hire companies we also provide the necessary support and training to guarantee the optimum solutions at all costs. The combination of integrated products and proven experience on projects of any scale underpins our reputation as a single source supplier.
Professional Loudspeakers
If there is one name that defines the heights of professionalism scaled by the modern pro audio industry then it is JBL. It has dominated all its core integration sectors from the worlds leading nightclubs and cinemas to just about every commercial and industrial install segment. JBL Installed Sound products offer a range without equal, from the legendary VerTec and VRX high output line array systems to the extraordinary value of the ubiquitous Control Contractor Series and the ultimate accuracy of the JBL Precision Directivity Series. With a pedigree based on 60 years experience, no other
manufacturer provides a wider or more comprehensive range of solutions, designed to deliver fail-safe results on commercial audio projects of any scale - from the smallest rooms to the worlds most celebrated venues.
Power Amplifiers
Another Harman Pro company with over 60 years experience, Crown International has become one of the worlds most respected manufacturers of professional power amplifiers, having continuously delivered new benchmarks in design. Crowns CTs Series amplifiers has become first choice for many integrators since they provide exceptional performance, flexibility and value. Easy integration with HiQnet and CobraNet allows CTs to deliver a comprehensive lineup of system monitoring and control features providing operational peace of mind along with digital audio transport. Crowns Commercial Audio series includes low cost mixer-amplifiers, preamplifier mixers and power amplifiers which provide basic but essential tasks throughout the commercial and industrial worlds. These units provide all the necessary building blocks for simple paging, BGM and security systems in retail, workplace, school and fitness environments where networked audio is not necessary. Further up the power spectrum the famous Macro-Tech and new I-Tech HD provide an industry reference.
contractor to quickly (and simply) set up and optimise the unit to its full potential. The legacy of the classic DriveRack series, which has redefined the standard of advanced signal processing, continues, along with the vast range of classic dbx analogue compressors and EQs and top-of-line Blue series products make up a compelling range.
Mixing Consoles
Soundcrafts innovative Vi6/Vi4 platform has quickly become known as the ultimate transition desk for sound engineers making the move from analogue to digital. Well into its fourth decade the familiar Soundcraft brand name, signature sound and desk ergonomics continue to provide both resident house technicians and touring sound engineers with consummate reassurance, extending their digital platform with the Si3 and Si2. In the analogue world Soundcrafts best-selling dual-mode MH and GB series multi-purpose consoles combine professional facilities and sound quality with exceptional value. These consoles are ergonomically designed, achieving optimum performance from compact frames. With a choice of 6, 8, 12 and 20 mono input frame sizes, the EPM, EFX, MPMi and MFXi series mixers encompass a massive range of applications at the lower end of the market from municipal halls to educational environments, while the brand continues to remain a by-word in the broadcast and recording worlds.
HiQnet
Harman Pros unique communication protocol HiQnet finally enables system components to reach beyond themselves. With a single software application at its heart, HiQnet is complex enough to handle system-wide configuration, routing, and control, flexible enough to traverse any cable, and intelligent enough to be truly plug n play. With HiQnet it simply is as simple as connect, configure and control.
From simple control of a single device to complex audio system design, System Architect brings with it one software solution containing all the tools necessary to connect microphone to speaker. Design the complete audio system with HiQnet System Architects familiar and friendly drag-and-drop interface. Configure all devices and route audio seamlessly across the entire network. Customize control interfaces for multiple computer and touch screen control with the integrated designer. Set up security and remote access for the entire system. All this from a single application.
Applications
Nowhere is the world-class performance and reliability of Harman Pro products more critical than in constructing the giant communications networks of sports stadia and arenas. Thanks to a platform of superior performance and total product integration Harman solutions have been preferred by some of the worlds most famous venues. In the UK alone Harman Professional products can be found at Emirates Stadium, Old Trafford, Ricoh Stadium, St. James Park, Wembley Stadium, Stamford Bridge and most recently Burnleys Turf Moor. Aside from well-renowned football stadia Harman products are installed at Wimbledon, and Epsom and Goodwood Racecourses. Internationally, think of the Yankee Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, Fedex Arena, Stade de Suisse and no fewer than twelve Olympic venues in Beijing. The arena portfolio is equally impressive and includes O2 Arena (following on from the Millennium Dome). The scale of such projects demands a unique set of skills and capabilities which few can deliver.
As well as big concert arenas, Harman Pro brands star right across the burgeoning middle band of theatre and club-sized live venues whether it is JBL AE series loudspeakers, AKG mics feeding them, Crown I-Techs powering them and Soundcraft digital consoles (with Lexicon and BSS FX) controlling them. The Mint Group, owners of premier London club venue KOKO, turned to a complete Harman Pro solution after its conversion from Camden Palace, as did IndigO2 (smaller sibling to the O2 Arena). Meanwhile, the fast expanding Academy Music Group has continually returned to Soundcraft digital consoles and BSS DSP to help build a superior technological infrastructure in their growing portfolio of O2 Academys. With industry-reference control, incoming technicians are discouraged from carrying their own production, and due to their familiarity with the Soundcraft platform and topography, the intuitive interface, speed of patching and ease of use why would they want to?
Koko, London
One of the worlds most advanced integrated sound systems can be found at The Mint Groups KOKO in London. The system capitalises on the continuity of all the Harman Pro group brands. It features a JBL VerTec line array sound system in the main room powered by Crown I-Tech amplifiers, a full selection of AKG mics including the WMS 4000 wireless system, dbxs DriveRack system processing units and two Soundcraft Vi6 digital live sound consoles.
Clubs
Harman Pro has been associated with some of the worlds most famous dance venues over the years, looking to associate their own brand with the might of JBL and many of them (such as Cream in Liverpool) adopting the legacy of the famous Richard Long system with mighty JBL drivers. The arrival of installation line arrays such as VerTec and VRX saw the new generation venues not only increasing their power but striving for a better signal path. As a result both the Ministry of Sound and fabric in London have now upgraded their BSS Audio networks to the new generation Soundweb London BLU series, enabling them to operate over HiQnet, Harman Pros communications protocol. The Ministry also added Crown networkable Macro-tech amplifiers. At the chic VIP end of the club market JBL has enjoyed a relationship ranging from Chinawhite, to more recently Whisky Mist and the private members club Bureau (to name but three).
fabric
The legendary London club operated for ten years with its trusty BSS Soundweb 9088ii system. Now the entire digital network has been replaced with the new generation Soundweb London using the BSS BLU-Link, which can carry 256 channels down a single Cat5e cable. Head of technology Sanjeev (Sanj) Bhardwaj said, Processing speed has now become a lot faster and more powerful and we have been able to replace our 12 original devices with a fraction of that number.
The Bureau
Inside this bijou private members bar off Londons Carnaby Street, the space has been intelligently used to fly JBL Control 29s over the dancefloor, Control 28Ts in the general seating area and Control 23s in the toilets with two floor-mounted JRX118S bass bins, in special hand-built enclosures extending the low end.
The Harman Pro portfolio is made for bars and restaurants. JBLs extensive Control Contractor series ranges from the powerful Control 30 and Control 29AV to the recessed Control 24C/24CT when a more discreet ceiling solution is required or in the case of Zen in Bristol, the Control 321C when a large-format solution is required from a discreet source. Whatever the speaker, it has its perfect match in the Crown XLS, CTs and XTi series. So who has them? The celebrated two tier Sitaaray and Tamarai is awash with JBL Control and AEs, Crown amplification and complex BSS signal networking, while JBL and Crown again forms part of the design template in the growing All Star Lanes upmarket bowling chain. Add to that other swish London places packed with JBL like Cocoon, Volstead, Tini Bar, Galvins, Bungalo 8 not to mention the ber-chic St. Martins Lane Hotel to which it is attached, and sister hotel The Sanderson. The list is endless.
Zen, Bristol
JBLs powerful large format Control Contractor 300 Series ceiling speakers received their UK baptism in an upmarket, new-build, multi-room Chinese restaurant in Bristols new Harbourside development. Owner Suzanna Ho needed a system capable of producing warm-sounding background music and at the same time a medium night club sound. Ten Control 321C models deliver exactly that, effortlessly blending into the aesthetic design.
Vermillion, Manchester
Owner Iqbal Ahmed OBE and his son Manzur Ahmed committed 5m to developing their award-winning Vermillion and Cinnabar Asian restaurant a three-storey restaurant and bar at East Manchesters Sportcity. The 9,000 sq. ft venue features vast quantities of JBL Contractor Control series. By adding the Control 19CS 8in subwoofers the sound has been elevated to almost nightclub levels.
Tamarai/Sitaaray, London
The Bollywood-themed Sitaaray restaurant and multipurpose Tamarai nightclub underneath gave owner/entrepreneur Rohit Khattar the opportunity to install a full Harman Pro digital network, with complex BSS Soundweb London DSP routing system and mode switching over CobraNet. JBL AE and Control series are used throughout, with Crown Xs series amplifiers and Lexicon MC4 surround sound processor, when the venue switches to cinema mode.
The increasing requirement for speech intelligibility and need to conform to safety and performance test standards in public places has increased the need for high-grade public address systems. In massive shopping malls, with their hard surfaces, reverberation times can be considerable further increasing the need for controlled audio. JBL systems have constantly shown that they are equal to the task. Around 1000 Control 26CT 100V line recess-mounted ceiling speakers are distributed throughout the concourse of the massive Westfield London Shopping Centre. The same difficulties face multi-zoned leisure sites like All Star Lanes. While JBL Control 29AVs, AL6125 sub and Control 28s form the foreground sound around the lanes, Control 25AV and Control 24c Micro systems fill the periphery all powered by Crown amplifiers. Finally, the new British Music Experience, is networked using BSS Soundweb .
Hotels
Two of Londons flagship boutique hotels, the St. Martins Lane Hotel and the Sanderson, boast JBL from the ground up. As with retail environments, hotel guests need to hear announcements clearly while the background music should be transparent rather than intrusive. The same goes for the speaker aesthetic. Multiples of recessed JBL Control 26Cs and white Control 25AV can be seen in the Philippe Starck-designed St. Martins Lane while superior sound and aesthetics drove the decision to mix JBL Control 23s and Control 25s with Control 29AVs in areas where more sound was required. At the edgier Hoxton Hotel, Control 29s face onto Great Eastern Street from the lobby, and finally, as the Radisson Edwardian Group continues its corporate facility upgrade so it is turning increasingly to JBL Control 26s and BSS Soundweb systems to route, process and deliver top-grade audio to its conference rooms.
Hoxton Hotel
As soon as visitors walk through the door at Sinclair Beechams trendy four-star Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch they are greeted by foyer music played through JBL Control 29s. The install, interfacing with an existing system and augmenting it, includes system equalisation and protection via a dbx 2031 31-band graphic EQ/limiter.
Educational Establishments
Be it essential audio infrastructure, installed and portable PA systems, or highly specialist audio equipment, the Harman Pro portfolio covers all bases within the education field. Whether in the primary and secondary state school sectors or City Academys you can expect to see products like the versatile Soundcraft LX7 Mk II mixer or EFX series, while in City College Coventrys new 50m block the broadcast department has three Soundcraft Series 10s in its radio studios and Ghosts in the project studios. South Thames College, too, has adopted the Soundcraft platform as the ideal learning tool in its new live and control rooms in Wandsworth. And in one of the UKs most stupendous buildings, the gothic Wills Memorial Hall on Bristol University campus, the patching and system EQ are handled by the new BSS Soundweb London BLU, linked to the in-house Soundcraft GB2 so the sound can either be controlled from the desk or automated through Soundweb.
Wherever audio is required, there is a place for Harman Pro components whether it is Soundweb, configured for 32 AKG gooseneck mic inputs at the headquarters of the Bank of Cyprus in Nicosia, or the continuous upgrade of the Norwegian Parliament building in Oslo where the many Soundweb Original devices have now been upgraded with Soundweb London to cover meeting rooms, hearing rooms and the main assembly auditorium. On the world map few historic public buildings can eclipse the Cathedrals of Notre Dame in Paris and St. Pauls in London both with BSS Soundweb DSP networks. At Stockholms Lnsrtten, the citys administrative court, inspired HiQnet London Architect programming was called upon, with Soundweb and Crown CTs 4200 USP-CN amplifiers controlling JBL Control series speakers over CobraNet. An AKG C400BL boundary layer mic is used for paging and the choice of different interpreter languages via the headphone amps is also performed in Soundweb.
Norwegian Parliament
The Norwegian Parliament in Oslo has upgraded its Soundweb devices to cover meeting rooms, hearing rooms and the main parliament assembly auditorium. This includes the plenary chamber, where the new Soundweb London was installed during a recess. Four BLU-320 break-in / out devices have been set in an 8 x 8 configuration together with eight BLU-160 devices. Two BLU-10 touch screen remotes control the system locally, and a BLU-80 device is located in the offices of the technical department for system surveillance and monitoring.
Bank of Cyprus
The five-storey HQ of the Bank of Cyprus in Nicosia has undergone a recent overhaul. Six Soundweb devices accommodate 48 inputs, while nine white JBL VRX932LA line array enclosures are divided into three clusters of three in the main hall, with a pair of SRX 718S subs, a further four JBL Control 29 loudspeakers on delays, service the breakout room at the rear. The system is powered by seven Crown XTi 4000 power amplifiers and an XTi 2000. In addition to AKG gooseneck mics, public speakers also have access to AKGs WMS 4000 wireless system.
Sound Technology have a team of acoustic and design specialists in the UK together with the ability to draw upon the global experience of Harman engineers as required. Bringing together extensive experience of full system design, complex networked audio and powerful 3D acoustic modelling software means we can work in partnership with consultants drawing up project specifications. Combining products from major manufacturers with experienced system engineers means more than audio systems that deliver superb sound and exceed regulatory requirements. It means guaranteed results.
At Sound Technology we have a team of support staff trained to a high level on all aspects of audio systems. From Soundweb programming to choice of AKG microphone we are here to help. We also run popular free dedicated training programmes for installers and end clients on the use of BSS Soundweb products and Soundcraft digital live consoles. Please see our website for more information.
Further Information
For further information please call us on 01462 480000 or visit our website at www.soundtech.co.uk. There youll find detailed accounts of the projects
highlighted in this brochure plus many more, together with detailed technical information regarding the products themselves. You will also find details of our supply chain for specifying and sourcing our solutions dependent on your requirements.
Whatever installation project you are planning or working on we wish you the very best of success.
Application Credits:
O2 Arena, ADT / Vision Systems / Vanguardia Consulting Emirates Stadium, Honeywell Business Services / AMS Acoustics Ricoh Stadium, Vision Systems / ARUP Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club, RG Jones KOKO, RAG Support Ltd AMG Academy Group, Adlib Audio Rock City, SSE Audio Group The Bureau, CP Sound Vermillion, CP Sound Zen, Abbeymoor Electrical Technical Siraaray/Tamarai, Sound Division Group All Star Lanes, Sound Division Group Westfield Shopping Centre, AMS Acoustics British Music Experience, Sysco Radisson Edwardian Group, Visual Systems Hoxton Hotel, Sound Division Group The Sanderson and St.Martins Lane Hotel, Sound Division Group South Thames College, DV Install Wills Memorial Hall, Sounds Commercial Coventry City College, TAS Lnsrtten (Stockholm County Administrative Court,) Zander & Bringholm AB Norwegian Parliament, LydRommet AS Bank of Cyprus, A.L.A. Equipment Company
TECHNOLOGY
Sound Technology Ltd, Letchworth Point, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire. SG6 1ND. Tel: 01462 480000 Fax: 01462 480800 Email: info@soundtech.co.uk
www.soundtech.co.uk