Rascal Flatts Goes Out On Rewind Tour With HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown Amps

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Rascal Flatts keeps riding high – the band’s last eight albums have hit number one on the country music charts and the group continues to pack arenas in support of their new chart-topping album Rewind. Never a band to go short on production, Rascal Flatts along with supporting artists Sheryl Crow and Gloriana and live sound company Sound Image are going all-out this summer and fall with a tour sound system featuring HARMAN JBL’s flagship VTX Series line array loudspeakers and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

For the Rewind shows, Escondido, California-based Sound Image is bringing out a stadium-shaking system that includes 60 JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers and 32 S28 subwoofers as the main system, complemented by six JBL VERTEC® VT4889 fullsize line array loudspeakers and two VERTEC VT4880 arrayable subwoofers used as sidefills. The loudspeakers are driven by no fewer than 72 of Crown’s flagship I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers.

Thirty VTX V25 loudspeakers and 16 S28 subs are flown on either side of the stage with three VT4889 loudspeakers flown on either side and aimed towards the stage as monitors, and two VT4880 subs are placed on the ground of the stage floor, aimed towards the performers.

“Everybody likes the new rigging system used on the VTX arrays,” said Sound Image Systems Tech Jeremy Overall. “Everything goes together pretty easily, which is a huge advantage when you have to set up literally 100 loudspeakers night after night.” VTX’s patented S.A.F.E. suspension system is streamlined for speed and efficiency with improved, integrated hardware for faster setup and greater security. Overall and his crew are also using the new JBL VTX Vertical Transporters, rolling frames that facilitate the transport of VTX line arrays for tour sound applications. “It actually makes moving all these arrays pretty easy.”

Sound Image was one of the first tour sound providers to add the JBL VTX Series to its inventory. “We got the second VTX rig and have been carrying it for about a year and a half,” Overall said. “It’s a significant improvement from anything else we’ve used with a lot more bottom end and good punch. The new D2 dual compression driver and waveguide really smooth out the high end – there’s no harshness to be heard.” Overall points out that with VTX in place, the system requires “just a little EQ but not nearly to the extremes we’d gotten accustomed to in order to make a system sound balanced.”

The Rascal Flatts rig is set up and tuned using JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software. “It’s so user-friendly – everything we need is right there. For example when we need to associate speakers to their amplifiers everything is built-in on a single tab. When we need to configure delay and processing, we just tell the program what speakers we’re setting up and all the control panels come right up.” Overall is also a big fan of the I-Tech HD Series amps, noting that Sound Image has had dozens of the amps working reliably on the road for two years. “I’m not the first person to say this but the amps work really well with the VTX arrays,” thanks to their built-in presets that enable the VTX models to be perfectly optimized for frequency response, crossover points and slopes and other sonic attributes.

“With a production like this you need to pull out all the stops in every respect including the live sound,” said Overall. “The JBL VTX and Crown system is more than a match for what’s happening on stage. The sound is incredibly detailed, punchy and ‘fast’-sounding from the deep low end to the smooth highs. I’m very happy.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and integrated control solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson ®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 16,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.3 billion for the twelve months ended June 30, 2014.

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This One’s For You: Sound Image and Jimmy Buffett Celebrate 40 Years On the Road Together Using HARMAN’s Crown I-Tech HD Amps and JBL VTX Line Arrays

ESCONDIDO, California — Jimmy Buffett has been extolling the laid-back pleasures of Margaritaville, having a Cheeseburger In Paradise and the fact that it’s Five O’Clock Somewhere since he recorded his first album in 1970. For 2014, San Diego’s Sound Image is celebrating 40 years as Buffett’s live sound provider with a new touring system based around HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Series amplifiers.

“When it comes to connecting with the audience, I think you can safely say that nobody’s better at it than Jimmy Buffett,” said Dave Shadoan, who partnered with Sound Image’s founder and partner, the late Ross Ritto, in 1971. “His fans hang onto every word at his live shows and they deserve nothing less than the best sound we can deliver.”

Buffett’s audience certainly isn’t going to have to strain to hear him sing. The live sound rig consists of 80 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers driving 52 JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers and 24 S28 cardioid-arrayable subwoofers. “We generally hang 14 V25 loudspeakers per side in the main array, with eight S28 subs next to them and 12 V25 loudspeakers in each of the left and right side hangs,” noted Sound Image front of house engineer Rich Davis. Depending on the venue, Davis will add more S28 subwoofers at the middle of the stage to fill out any void in the low frequencies, plus three S28 subs on each side if necessary. “We were in sheds at the start of the tour and will be outdoors through October.”

Davis noted that the biggest issue Buffett will have with a sound system is keeping the low end from building up on the “deck” that makes up the floor of the stage. “That’s one of the reasons I like to spread out the subwoofers and not use massive ground stacks,” he said.

Davis sets up the system using JBL’s HiQnet Performance Manager™ system control software. “The latest version of Performance Manager saves us a lot of time and simplifies the entire configuration and calibration process,” Davis pointed out. “It enables us to go deeply into the I-Tech HD’s many DSP functions, filters and crossovers and fine-tune the sound. It also gives me automatic control screens for each of the line array columns and if I need to edit, modify, add or delete a hang, it’s actually easy instead of being a time-consuming chore.”

Davis notes that he rarely needs any EQ on the high end and that the system is smooth from top to bottom. “We did a show in Raleigh and I walked up on the lawn, which was about 430 feet from the speaker stacks and there was solid low end all the way in the back of the lawn, which never happened before. This new system is more coherent and the low end really holds up.”

“The PA is super stable,” Davis added. “Jimmy is known for talking between songs and when he talks to the other band members it’s often sideways off the mic. I can ram that fader all the way up so that he can be heard and the system still doesn’t have any problems.”

 “It’s been an honor, a privilege and a great time working with Jimmy all these years,” Shadoan concluded. “The only thing missing in this 40th year is my former partner and Jimmy’s former monitor engineer, Ross Ritto. Sound Image has always been about technological innovation and I know Ross would be thrilled to hear what we’re doing with Jimmy on his 2014 This One’s For You tour.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and integrated control solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson ®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 16,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.3 billion for the twelve months ended June 30, 2014.

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Power Music of Denmark Takes Newly Purchased HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers to ABC Beach Party

GRENAA STRAND, Denmark — Power Music of Denmark recently added HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers to its inventory. A longtime HARMAN customer, Power Music is a leading regional provider of sound and lighting systems for applications of all sizes. The company recently put its new VTX system to the test at ABC Beach Party, a 12-hour event organized by Danish broadcaster ABC Radio, featuring approximately 25 artists. Held at Grenaa Strand, in Denmark, ABC Beach Party drew an audience of 10,200 people.

“As a JBL VERTEC® user for many years, the time had come for us to take the next step with VTX,” said Rune Hjort, Owner of Power Music. “The launch of the VTX V20 loudspeaker was a perfect solution for our company, providing great flexibility and fast setup with the new ASM suspension system.”

Power Music purchased a total of 16 VTX V20 loudspeakers, along with six S25 subwoofers and six G28 subwoofers. In addition, the company added six Crown I-Tech 12000HD and four I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers featuring Crown’s DriveCore™ technology (on top of the four I-Tech 4x3500HD amps the company already owns).

The PA system at ABC Beach Party featured a left-right configuration of eight V20 loudspeakers per side, topped with three S25 subwoofers per side. Six G28 subwoofers were ground-stacked as a center cluster in cardioid mode, while two VTX F12 loudspeakers were used for out fill. All monitors were JBL SRX712 and VRX915M loudspeakers, while side fill monitoring was handled with two JBL SRX725 loudspeakers and two SRX718S subwoofers. A Soundcraft Vi4 digital console was used at the FOH position, while a Vi1 console was deployed for monitors and the entire system was powered with Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers that were controlled, configured and monitored with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™.

“The last couple of years we have used JBL VERTEC® VT4888 loudspeakers, so we were really excited to see how the VTX system would compare,” said Rune Hjort, Owner of Power Music. “Needless to say it blew everyone away.

Considering the size of the crowd and the fact that the music was very sub-heavy we had some concerns about the amount of headroom. But when you have VTX boxes with I-Tech HD amps in front, you never really run out of power—you can just keep turning up the volume. I also love the fact that we barely had to touch the EQ on the vocals to get it just right.”

For more information on Power Music, please visit www.powermusic.dk

HARMAN designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and integrated control solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. With 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson ®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a global workforce of 15,200 people and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last 12 months ended March 31, 2014.

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HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays Go Into “X Mode” for the 2014 Miss USA Interviews

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – As 51 contestants competed in one of the country’s most widely viewed beauty contests, Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Premier Sound Services (PSS) provided the sound reinforcement for the Miss USA Pageant. The event is part of Miss Universe, which is owned by Donald Trump and was televised nationally live on NBC. As always, PSS stuck with its inventory of HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays to generate the best coverage and superior sound quality.

The main PA system consisted of 13 JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers per side in long-throw “X Mode” (35Hz high pass filter) and were powered with 24 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD and two Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers. The system also featured 45-degree outfill arrays, which featured nine VTX V20 loudspeakers in long-throw 60Hz mode that were powered by six Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers. On the floor, 16 bi-amped JBL SRX712M stage monitors were used with five Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers.

Two JBL VTX V20 loudspeakers were provided for the judges, with an additional two V20 loudspeakers per side for front fill, powered by two Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers. The downstage side-fill hangs featured six JBL VERTEC® VT4886 subcompact line array loudspeakers per side, powered by a single Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifier. The upstage side fill hangs also featured six VT4886 loudspeakers per side, powered with one Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifier.

“Keeping the loudspeakers hidden from the camera angles as much as possible was the main challenge of this event,” said Brian Gordon, Co-Owner and Head Audio Engineer of PSS. “Originally, we wanted to hang 14 units per side for the main PA, but thanks to the sheer power of the VTX Series we got the output we needed with fewer units, and we never hit the limit on any of the amplifiers.”

When asked why no subwoofers were used, Gordon replied, “We didn’t need any subwoofers for this show, because intelligibility and sound cohesiveness were the key objectives, and the VTX Series loudspeakers are superior in those areas over everything else. There was no interference and everything came out exactly as it should. I was especially impressed by the smoothness of the off-axis dispersion of the V20’s, which was just amazing.”

For more information on Premier Sound Services, please visit www.psssound.com

HARMAN designs, manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and integrated control solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. With 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson ®, the Company is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a global workforce of 15,200 people and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last 12 months ended March 31, 2014.

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ACE Provides Chang Jiang International Music Festival With Top-Tier Sound Featuring HARMAN’s JBL Professional VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

ZHENJIANG, China – Located on the Yangtze River, the city of Zhenjiang recently hosted the 2014 Chang Jiang International Music Festival, where 90,000 music enthusiasts enjoyed performances over the course of three days by well-known musicians such as Nile Rodgers, Wu Bai, Melody Chiang, and many more. Gracing the outdoor stages with world-class equipment from HARMAN’s JBL, Crown and Soundcraft, HARMAN distributor ACE placed an emphasis on audio clarity and power.

The Chang Jiang International Music Festival featured three separate stages: the Yangtze River stage, which catered to artists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; the Jinshan stage, which welcomed global American and European artists; and the Rock Stage, which was specifically set up for domestic rock bands.

The PA system at the Yangtze Stage featured 24 JBL VTX V25 line array elements, a combination of 12 VTX S28 and G28 subwoofers, 16 STX812M loudspeakers as stage monitors, eight VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array loudspeakers as front and side fills. The system was powered by 32 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD, eight I-Tech 6000 and two sets of I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers. The Jinshan Stage featured 24 JBL VERTEC VT4889 fullsize line array elements as the main PA, 16 VT4880 subwoofers and eight VT4888 loudspeakers as front fills and side fills. This system was powered by 24 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD, eight I-Tech 6000 and two sets of I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers. Two Soundcraft Vi6 consoles were used to manage the sound at these stages.

“Installers tend to like VTX and VERTEC systems for these types of events, because they have the capacity to put out high volumes of power and high levels of clarity in an outdoor environment,” said Ben Lui, VP of ACE. “Also, the PA system is able to power through a huge amount of performances day and night in very hot weather conditions. The combination of JBL and Crown makes this possible, without additional guesswork.”

The on-site technical staff was impressed by not only the PA system, but also by the Soundcraft consoles, which were able to manage the sounds from the various styles of bands originating from different parts of the world.

“The audio engineers from the bands as well as some of the audio instructors were blown away by the fidelity of our VTX system,” said Lui. “The high frequencies were incredibly accurate, while the low ones packed a hard punch. The entire integrated system performed perfectly without any failure and zero distortion.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 15,200 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2014.

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HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Array Loudspeakers Are the Unsung Heroes in “Sing My Song”

BEIJING, China – Music reality show “Sing My Song” is aired by CCTV3 and recently became a ratings winner in China. With a live audience of 300 people, the popularity of the show is largely attributed to its emphasis on original songs created by independent artists. To complement the ambitious direction of the show, HARMAN’s JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers were installed at the show’s live studio to enable the singers to showcase their original pieces of music.

Amidst many musical talent shows that focus on the contestants’ ability to sing cover songs, “Sing My Song” appeals to the artists’ creativity, rekindling the life and spirit of original compositions. The powerful, yet pure-sounding JBL VTX Series loudspeakers are the perfect choice for this program, as they deliver even coverage throughout the studio.

The main PA system features two groups of 10 JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array loudspeakers each that are suspended and cover three sides of the stage. Beneath the stage are three groups of four JBL VTX S28 subwoofers each. Thanks to the JBL VTX LAC (Line Array Calculator) Software, each projected area of the loudspeakers is taken into consideration to calculate the energy output of each loudspeaker.

“The JBL VTX loudspeakers perform and sound amazing,” said Jin Shaogang, music and pitch instructor for the show. “The mids and highs of the V25 loudspeakers sound smooth and transparent, while the JBL S28 subwoofers pack a lot of power and add plenty of depth to the sound.” The performance of the VTX loudspeakers also sound impressive on a variety of instruments, and their world-class sound quality is able to bring entire audiences to their feet.

Thirty-two Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers power the loudspeakers, and the entire system is connected using JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software, for the convenience of uploading the configurations for all the equipment during installation and sound debugging during live shows.

Four instructors Liu Huan, Yang Kun, Zhou Huajian, Cai Jianya were truly impressed by the “good songs and good sounds,” in reference to the excellent live audio quality that the JBL VTX line array loudspeakers bring to any stage.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 15,200 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2014.

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Multi Image Group Upgrades to HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

Andy Kakas (left) and Edward Gonzalez (right).

BOCA RATON, Florida – Multi Image Group (MIG) is a full-service corporate communications company with resources to produce events worldwide. MIG supplies complete sound, lighting, video projection, digital signage, set design and technology for events ranging from 50-person sales meetings to 50,000-seat stadium concerts. The Boca Raton-based company employs 150 people and prides itself on providing its clients with nothing less than the very best—to that end, the company recently upgraded its audio system inventory with HARMAN JBL VTX Series line array loudspeakers and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

Multi Image Group has been a HARMAN Professional dealer and user for nine years. “I’ve always been a fan of JBL and have used their loudspeakers since 1981,” said MIG Audio Department Manager Andy Kakas. “I’ve been blown away by their VERTEC® line arrays, especially the way they maintain a stable sonic image in a variety of situations. I really wanted to put the newer VTX line arrays through their paces because in my experience JBL loudspeaker systems just keep getting better.”

Kakas’ interest dovetailed with Multi Image Group’s need to acquire another loudspeaker system for arena events—in the last two years MIG had been doing more and more arena and stadium events along with ballroom and theater productions. Kakas had heard a VTX V25 line array system at an Orlando stadium concert and was impressed by the way it sounded, how easy it was to rig and the way the sonic image stayed intact even from 200 to 250 feet away. Soon after, JBL introduced the smaller V20 loudspeaker and Kakas knew it would be even more adaptable to the type of venues MIG services.

Knowing from his own experience the benefits of upgrading to the I-Tech HD amplifiers, Kakas believed the VTX rig would represent another major step forward. “We weren’t using Crown amplifiers when I joined the company. I didn’t agree with this because I had been using Crown since I started in the professional sound industry back in 1981 and they were always bulletproof.”

However, Kakas first had to convince MIG’s owner. Kakas pointed out that in eight years of owning VERTEC VT4888 line arrays they had almost no driver failures, and had recouped their investment on them in three years. An audition of the V20 at the recent Winter NAMM show sealed the deal: “We heard them and realized, that’s the way a PA should sound.”

Since taking delivery of the JBL VTX V20, MIG’s initial impressions have only been reinforced. “The size of the V20 is perfect for what we do, the loudspeakers sound exceptionally good and the V20 is loud for its size, so in situations where I’d normally have to bring a bigger box, I can stick with the V20,” said Edward Gonzalez, Audio Engineer and System Designer at Multi Image Group. “In a lot of the corporate events we do, I’m fighting height--I have to work around low ceilings in ballrooms, so the smaller size of the V20 is a major advantage.”

Gonzalez, Kakas and the rest of the MIG crew are impressed with every aspect of the V20’s sound, yet single out the newly refined Radiation Boundary Integrator™ (RBI) waveguide, which provides broader, more stable horizontal coverage and a more seamless transition between the high-frequency and midrange drivers. “The new HF driver throws really far and sounds incredibly clean and smooth,” Gonzalez noted. Using the V20 with the Crown I-Tech HD Series amplifiers provides another advantage—the amps’ internal processing is designed to optimize the performance of the V20 (and other JBL models) and enables the crew to carry one less piece of external gear.

“With the I-Tech HDs there is a lot of sonic detail. It has a transparent top end, which has an open and natural sound. It maintains the Crown dampening that gives you that punch in your chest. Also, the Cobranet™ integration is quite useful since we have had a need for multiple channels of AES from front of house to the stage and the amp racks,” added Kakas.

MIG controls its systems with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™, which Gonzalez helped beta test and finds a major step forward from the previous System Architect. Performance Manager now provides pre-configured control panels instead of having to build them from scratch – a significant time saver. The built-in JBL Line Array Calculator II loudspeaker setup and calibration software is improved to the point where Gonzalez can predict the locations of where the loudspeakers should be set up and get them almost dead-on to their final placements. He also likes Performance Manager’s ability to automatically reconfigure itself. “If the number of amplifiers in the system is changed, I don’t have to manually re-address the locations of the amplifiers on the network,” Gonzalez noted. “I’m excited to mix on something that sounds so good. It’s a very high-fidelity system. It doesn’t sound like a PA—it sounds like a high-end audio system you’d have at home.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 15,200 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.1 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2014.

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Atkinson Sound Upholds Reputation for Excellence with HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

(Left to right) Paul Bauman, Associate Director, Tour Sound,
JBL Professional; Jeff Harris, District Sales Manager, HARMAN
Professional; Hoyt Atkinson, Owner, Atkinson Sound;
Steve Johnson, CEO, HP Marketing; and Derreld Yost,
Atkinson Sound.

KAMAS, Utah – Leading regional sound company Atkinson Sound recently bolstered its audio system inventory with HARMAN’s new JBL VTX V20 line array loudspeakers and Crown I-Tech HD 4x3500 amplifiers. The company will be using its new system for a variety of events beginning in May.

Founded in 1980 by Hoyt Atkinson, the company has evolved its business from a small provider of DJ systems to one of the region’s most successful sound contractors, providing rental and production services for concerts, festivals, corporate events and more, while also growing a strong systems integration department. A longtime JBL customer, Atkinson Sound’s investment in JBL has grown in parallel. “We have been a JBL company many years, starting with an SR-X system before graduating to HLA, and in more recent years to VERTEC® line arrays,” Atkinson said.

After seeing the new VTX V20 system at the Winter NAMM 2014 show, Hoyt Atkinson knew it was time to once again upgrade with JBL. “The high frequency in the V20 is just astounding and there is nothing else that compares to what the D2 driver is providing in a box of that size,” he said.

Atkinson Sound has purchased 24 VTX V20 line array loudspeakers, 12 VTX F12 multi-purpose loudspeakers, six VTX G28 subwoofers and 12 VTX S25 subwoofers. The systems will be configured and controlled with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

The VTX V20 loudspeaker features a true 3-way system design with proprietary D2 Dual Diaphragm Dual Voice Coil compression driver and Differential Drive™ low frequency transducer technology along with patent-pending ultra-linear motor technology employed for midrange components. In keeping with the philosophy of the VTX Series, the VTX V20 has extremely high power density with each line array element featuring two 2261H 10-inch Differential Drive woofers, four 2164H 4-inch ultra-linear midrange transducers and three of the new small-format D2415K Dual Drivers.

Atkinson Sound expects to use the new VTX system for a variety of events throughout the western United States in the coming spring and summer months. “We love VERTEC and we saw it as a giant step forward for JBL when they introduced the VERTEC Series, and our adoption of VERTEC won a lot of jobs for us,” Atkinson noted. “Now, we see another leap forward with VTX and although we considered loudspeaker systems from competitive brands, nothing matched what VTX has to offer. It’s also a very rider-friendly loudspeaker, which gives us an advantage.”

For more information on Atkinson Sound, please visit www.atkinsonsound.com

HARMAN designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.

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HARMAN Professional Releases JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ Version 1.7, Adding Support for JBL VTX F Series Loudspeakers

FRANKFURT, Germany – HARMAN Professional today introduced the latest iteration of its comprehensive software for live sound system configuration and control, JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ version 1.7. New to version 1.7 is support for JBL’s VTX F Series loudspeakers, new circuiting functionality, plus a host of other new capabilities.

JBL HiQnet Performance Manager is a true workflow-based user experience for designing, deploying and controlling any configuration of HiQnet live performance system that offers touring and live sound professionals reduced design time, simplified networking, and an automated interface configuration.

Version 1.7 features new circuiting functionality that allows for automatic mirroring of delay, bandpass gain, circuit level attenuation, and limiter reduction. It also affords the ability for center stacks to mirror their circuit configuration. With the new functionality, circuits for ground stacks on-end are built in an onstage to offstage fashion and HARMAN’s Crown VRACK amplifier channels are now automatically associated with sub bandpasses by using channel 1 of all three amps before associating with channel 2. The functionality also separates the circuits of cardioid subs so non-consecutive circuiting and more economical triplets can be created.

Additionally, online matching now has the option of preserving physical devices addresses and making the virtual device in Performance Manager receive the HiQnet address from the networked device. The update also features substantial changes to ground stack templates: it is now possible to select any number of column or row stacks, while selecting an odd number of ground stacks on-end will create a center stack that circuits inside-to-out within itself.

When in “Amplify Mode” users now have the capability to make associations directly by dragging speaker bandpasses to amplifier channels or vice versa. Version 1.7 also features a new ‘auto’ VRACK wiring mode option within the Array Configuration dialog. This allows Performance Manager to automatically decide the most economical use of VRACKs and can be used instead of the advanced tab for complex scenarios.

“Today’s introduction features improvements that are a direct result of input from our users,” commented Paul Bauman, Associate Director, Tour Sound, JBL Professional. “Version 1.7 further enhances Performance Manager’s ability to simplify complex system configurations and guide professionals and even those with less experience to optimize the performance of JBL tour sound products.”

For more information on JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ version 1.7, please visit: hiqnet.harmanpro.com/general/performance_manager

Performance Manager is available for purchase via license key on the HiQnet website: hiqnet.harmanpro.com

HARMAN designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.

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Miller Pro Audio, HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers Add Pop to Fun Fun Fun Fest

NORTHRIDGE, California – For the eighth straight year, Miller Pro Audio supplied a HARMAN’s JBL line array system, powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers, at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in downtown Austin, Texas. The system was deployed for the festival’s main (Orange) stage, which hosted performances by Snoop Dogg, MIA, MGMT, Slayer, Television and more.

The main PA system featured a left-right configuration of 10 VTX V25 fullsize line array elements per side, with an additional six V25 elements for front fill. The system also included nine ground-stacked G28 subwoofers, with 12 S28 subwoofers hung as a center cluster. Crown I-Tech 4x3500 HD amplifiers powered the V25 loudspeakers and S28 subs, while I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers powered the G28 subs. The system was controlled via JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

According to Oliver, the challenges of the event ranged from the large number of acts to staying within strict noise limits from the city. “We try very hard to find a happy medium that keeps everyone as happy as possible,” he said.

With offices in Austin, Dallas, Lubbock and Oklahoma City, Miller Pro Audio was founded more than 20 years ago by Danny and Leslie Miller, growing from one truck and a small shop on a dirt road to averaging well over 1,000 shows per year spanning from clubs to top 10 shed tours. “We are a turnkey company, meaning we stock a full inventory of audio, backline, lights, video, staging, truss-built roof systems and stage lines,” said Aaron Oliver, Corporate Comptroller/Corporate Trainer for Miller Pro Audio. “We also provide production management, stage management, event planning and have a thriving install department.”

This year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest marked Miller Pro Audio’s first use of the JBL VTX line array system. “We found the VTX to have great, smooth response while remaining very musical,” Oliver noted. “The output power of the V25 was killer and the subs were powerful yet smooth and punchy. We really liked the VTX system and would love to experience what it has to offer again.”

Miller Pro Audio also owns Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers and have been pleased with the products’ performance. “We utilize the I-Tech amps to power many other products we supply and all in all, we love what the I-Tech’s allow us to achieve,” Oliver said.

In addition, Performance Manager has proven beneficial to Miller Pro Audio’s business. “We used Performance Manager for the Fun Fun Fun Fest and we use it on many other shows as well,” Oliver added. “The control it provides really helps us cut back on the need for additional hardware, which means less cases, less labor and lighter trucks—all of which translate to savings in budget.”

For more information on Miller Pro Audio, please visit www.millerproaudio.com

HARMAN designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.

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Pick Of The Hits - HARMAN in ISE Daily Day 1, January 2014

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Thunder Audio Helps Donny and Marie Christmas Tour Celebrate the Holidays With Harman’s JBL VTX Line Arrays

NORTHRIDGE, California – This season the Donny and Marie Christmas tour brought the Osmonds’ family-friendly blend of music, dancing, comedy and entertainment to audiences across the US. The 15-city arena tour featured the Osmonds performing holiday music, hit songs and more—even mixing in classic clips from 1970s holiday TV broadcasts that hadn’t been seen in decades. The all-out entertainment extravaganza delivered with the help of a HARMAN JBL VTX Series line array audio system provided by Livonia, Michigan-based Thunder Audio.

“Donny and Marie are known for their spectacular production values, musical variety, costume changes and unstoppable energy and the Donny and Marie Christmas Tour was no exception,” said Greg Snyder, Business Development Manager for Thunder Audio and project engineer for the tour. “They want to make sure every single person in the audience feels like they’re an intimate part of the show, even if they’re at the back of a 20,000-seat arena. That’s why we used the JBL VTX line arrays for sound reinforcement on the tour—more than 75 of them including tops and subs.”

Two main left and right hangs of 14 V25 fullsize line array elements were flown per side, along with two outfill hangs of nine V25 elements per side, two side fill clusters of two V25 elements per side, six S28 subwoofers hung at each end of the stage and a center cluster of four V25 elements. On the ground, six S28 subwoofers per side and four JBL VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array elements up front provided additional low end and center fill.

The loudspeakers were powered by 72 Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers housed in proprietary Thunder Audio rack systems. JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ was used for system control, with JBL’s Line Array Calculator II employed for loudspeaker setup. FOH engineer Lucas "Rico" Corrubia used a Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing console on the tour.

The sound crew for the show included monitor engineer Joe Webster, Thunder Audio’s FOH systems engineer Johnathon Winkler, monitor systems engineer Ron Hurd and fly tech and stage patch technician Paul Villarreal. “As one of the first sound companies to purchase JBL VTX Series line arrays, we’ve gotten to know what they can do in an arena setting in every respect,” Snyder pointed out.

“This rig is phenomenal, Paul Bauman and the JBL team did a great job designing VTX,” Corrubia noted. “It has so much horsepower, it can go for days.”

Systems engineer Jon Winkler is extremely well versed in the operation and deployment of this system and in using Performance Manager and the JBL Line Array Calculator II to optimize its performance. “Jon has a very keen ear and he was really the key to fine-tuning the system to the ‘nth’ degree,” Snyder added.

“To me, the definition of a good loudspeaker is when the sound of the box itself disappears—that you almost forget you’re even listening to a loudspeaker,” Corrubia added. “That really started to happen with the VTX system as we got a sense of tuning it. We could go anywhere in any arena and it would still sound crystal-clear and transparent.”

Snyder noted that even though the Donny And Marie Christmas Tour played in large arenas, the show felt more up close and personal, thanks in large part to the clarity and smooth, focused coverage of the VTX line arrays even over larger distances. “Donny and Marie are two of the warmest and most inviting performers around and we wanted to make sure that audiences were drawn into the more intimate parts of the show like their quieter solo numbers, yet dazzled by the energy of the all-out production numbers,” he said. “The JBL VTX line arrays are as unstoppable as Donny and Marie when everyone’s singing, playing and dancing their hearts out.”

Corrubia echoed this sentiment. “Donny and Marie have so much variety in their shows, going from rock and roll to Broadway and opera, that you need a system to handle that versatility,” he said. “VTX did an incredible job.”

For more information on Thunder Audio, please visit www.thunderaudioinc.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,600 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.5 billion for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2013.

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CTS Audio Shows Faith in HARMAN’s JBL Professional VTX Line Arrays at National Catholic Youth Conference

NORTHRIDGE, California – Continuing a series of high-profile events using HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers, CTS Audio provided a HARMAN Professional audio system for the National Catholic Youth Conference at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Sponsored by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, the National Catholic Youth Conference featured a variety of spoken-word, live music and dramatic performances. Given the event’s diverse programming, CTS Audio—which has supplied the sound reinforcement for the bi-annual National Catholic Youth Conference for more than 15 years—needed an audio system that would accommodate this variety in a large stadium environment. Working with production company Declan Weir Productions, CTS Audio designed and deployed a HARMAN audio system featuring JBL Professional VTX line arrays powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

The production was configured in the round, with the main PA system including a total of 90 JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array elements (in six columns of 15 each), with 24 S28 subwoofers flown in the center of the main PA loudspeakers in a cardioid setup. Eight VRX932 Constant Curvature loudspeakers provided additional fill. At each end of the stadium, 24 JBL VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array elements served as delay loudspeakers. Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers powered the system.

According to Mike Taylor, Vice President of CTS Audio, the main challenges of the event included proper time-alignment of the loudspeakers. “We were faced with a complex task of achieving direct sound rather than reflections in such a large stadium,” said Mike Taylor, Vice President of CTS Audio. “And with the design, coming up with a subwoofer arrangement that was even across the room was also a challenge.”

In addition, CTS Audio configured and monitored the audio system with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™.

“[JBL’s Associate Director, Tour Sound] Paul Bauman and [HARMAN Professional’s Application Engineer, Live Sound and Rental for North America] Raul Gonzalez helped us develop a solution utilizing Performance Manager,” Taylor noted. “This enabled us to model and program every loudspeaker in the system before even hanging a single box.”

Although CTS Audio has used VTX frequently since adding the loudspeakers to its inventory, this was the first time CTS supplied VTX for the National Catholic Youth Conference. “The event was a huge success,” Taylor said. “Two years ago we used VERTEC and this was an improvement on an already good-sounding system. VTX is a whole different animal—the enclosures and the high-frequency range are amazing.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,600 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.5 billion for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2013.

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Thunder Audio Relies on HARMAN’s JBL Professional VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers for Massive Austin City Limits Music Festival

AUSTIN, Texas – Music festival specialist Thunder Audio added another notch to its list of notable music events in October when the Livonia, Michigan-based company made its debut at the renowned Austin City Limits Music Festival. The event, which for the first time took take place over two weekends (October 4-6 and October 11-13), saw Thunder Audio set up a huge HARMAN JBL VTX line array system, powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

“We know what sound needs to be like for large outdoor music festivals,” assures Thunder Audio Vice President Paul Owen, who spent 23 years mixing monitors for heavy-metal legend Metallica. “We’ve done numerous major ones including the Orion Music + More Festival, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and Faster Horses, and you need a powerful system with excellent low-frequency response and clarity that’s also incredibly reliable for long periods of time under sometimes pretty challenging conditions. And it can get pretty hot in Austin! But I have to say, VTX has proven itself to be just that system on previous occasions and it proved itself again at the ACL Music Festival.”

The system consisted of 36 VTX V25 fullsize line array elements flown 18 per side flanking the main stage, with an additional eight V25 cabinets per side for the outside hang. A total of 48 VTX S28 subwoofers were configured as two hangs of 12 each on either side of the stage, with 24 ground-stacked S28 subs across the front of the stage. Four JBL VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array elements were used for front fill along with a pair of V25 loudspeakers as left-right outside fills. The JBL loudspeakers were controlled using a pair of dbx 4800 system controllers. The entire system was powered by 86 Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers networked and controlled with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ system setup software, which enables Thunder Audio to configure and tune an audio system in less time and with better results.

Owen said that in addition to challenging work, large music festivals are also excellent opportunities to viscerally compare the performance and sound of different PA systems in the field. “You can see how different systems handle throw distances, tightness and accuracy of pattern coverage, vertical and horizontal dispersion, and sonic accuracy,” he explained. “The VTX system was at the top of all of those characteristics.”

In particular, Owen said, the VTX’s throw was exceptional and just what was needed in the huge, 351-acre Zilker Park venue for the ACL Music Festival. “The reaction of guest engineers to the VTX has been just spectacular,” he added.

Greg Snyder, Project Manager for Thunder Audio at the ACL Music Festival, noted the performance of the S28 subwoofers was impressive. “The punch from the subs, especially during Muse’s headline set, was monstrous,” he said. “The people there that night got a real treat.”

Celebrating its 34th year in business in 2013, having grown from its beginnings as a regional sound company in 1979 to its current status as a premier international live production and systems integration company, Thunder Audio has provided sound for Steely Dan, Metallica, The White Stripes, Linkin Park, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, John Legend, Travis Tritt and many other artists along with more than 60 corporate clients. The company acquired its first VTX system last year and company executives were astonished by the system, and particularly by the quality of the new JBL D2 Dual Driver included in the V25. "There's no disputing the sound quality and the sheer amount of horsepower the V25 has,” said Owen, who also noted how the VTX components’ lighter weight makes them a more versatile option for the variety of projects Thunder Audio handles.

“A number of artists experienced VTX for the first time at the ACL Music Festival this year and all of them were suitably impressed,” Owen recounted. “I’m certain there will be more converts in the future.”

 For more information on Thunder Audio, please visit www.thunderaudioinc.com

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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CTS Audio Continues Tradition of Success With HARMAN’s JBL Professional VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

NORTHRIDGE, California – Longtime HARMAN Professional customer and prominent live sound company CTS Audio of Brentwood, Tennessee recently added JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers to its inventory to accommodate the needs of recent large-scale events. CTS Audio recently put its new VTX/I-Tech HD system to the test at the Delta Country Jam in Tunica, Mississippi and the Dove Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.

CTS Audio has seen its business grow in recent years, both in the frequency of projects as well as size. Eventually, the scale of the projects necessitated an addition to CTS’ inventory of audio equipment. “We started working enough large-scale events where it made sense to buy a large system instead of continuing to rent them,” said Mike Taylor, Vice President of CTS Audio.

So when the time came to add large-scale components, CTS Audio stuck with its winning formula. “We’re very committed to HARMAN,” Taylor said. “We’re deep into their line of products and are very happy with every HARMAN product we own, plus their customer service is second to none.”

CTS Audio first put its new products to the test at the 2-day Delta Country Jam, which took place outside the Hollywood Casino in Tunica and drew 15-20,000 fans each day. Performers included Billy Currington, Thompson Square, Randy Houser, Tim McGraw, Brantley Gilbert and Kellie Pickler.

The system at the Delta Country Jam featured 24 JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array elements (12 per side), supplemented with 24 VTX S28 arrayable subwoofers with 12 VERTEC® VT4886 subcompact line array elements for front fills and 12 VT4888 midsize line array elements for out fills (six per side). Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers powered the system, which was managed with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

“The HARMAN system performed extremely well at the Delta Country Jam,” Taylor noted. “We worked with Drew Dedo of Harbor Entertainment, who produced the Delta Country Jam, and the collaboration with Drew, plus the addition of the new HARMAN gear, made the event a tremendous success.”

A couple weeks later, CTS serviced the Dove Awards, which took place at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena in Nashville with hosts Amy Grant (who also performed) and Kirk Franklin, with performances by Bart Millard, Andy Mineo, For King and Country, Newsboys, Toby Mac, Michael W. Smith and more.

The system at the Dove Awards featured 18 V25 fullsize line array elements (nine per side) with 16 S28 subwoofers (eight per side), along with 20 VT4888 line array elements for side fill and six VT4886 line array elements as a flown center cluster for front fill. Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers powered the system, which was managed with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

“The VTX system has been very well received,” Taylor said. “It’s the first time we’ve owned a loudspeaker of the V25’s size and although we were initially concerned with running out of headroom, that has not been a problem at all. We’re finding a very present sound at the 300-foot range.”

For more information on CTS Audio, please visit www.ctsaudio.com

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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Sound Image Tops Off Brad Paisley’s Tour With HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

NORTHRIDGE, California – Country music star Brad Paisley is currently in the final leg of his 2013 “Beat This Summer Tour” throughout the United States and Canada. To support Paisley’s exceptional voice and talents, Sound Image of Escondido, California, is providing HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

A total of 44 VTX V25 fullsize line array elements comprise the system on Paisley’s tour, along with 16 VTX S28 subwoofers, all powered by 40 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers. “When I first heard the VTX system, I was shockingly impressed. I was amazed by the sound quality when we first fired it up,” according to Greg Hancock, Audio Crew Chief for the tour.

“There were specific sounds that Brad was looking for because he plays in a distinctive style. We were able to accommodate that, because with its high-frequency range, the VTX offers a lot more detail than our previous systems,” said Brendan Hines, FOH Systems Engineer.

Sound quality is not the only area where VTX exceeds expectations. It also enables extremely quick setup times, as VTX’s patented S.A.F.E. suspension system is streamlined for speed and efficiency with improved hardware for faster setup with fewer pinning operations and greater security.

“The flexibility and ease with which the VTX is set up benefits us in terms of completing the necessary system configurations to control feedback,” Hines added. “Having that much control over the feedback of those PA’s makes it much easier for tuning.”

The state-of-the-art performance of the VTX PA’s is further enhanced by the Crown I- Tech HD amplifiers, the pinnacle of advanced professional touring amplifier technology.

“The Crown I-Tech HD’s are a huge improvement, their reliability is outstanding, the sound quality is phenomenal, and the flexibility it gives you as a systems engineer is awesome,” said Hines. “We’ve taken another step in the right direction,” said Kevin Freeman, Production Manager.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,600 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.5 billion for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2013.

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Journey Holds Onto That Feeling with HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays

NORTHRIDGE, California – Legendary rock band Journey recently completed a series of concerts with HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays, powered by Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers. The VTX system was deployed for five performances, including two with Rascal Flatts (with a system provided by Sound Image) and other dates in Lake Tahoe, Aspen and San Francisco.

According to Jim Yakabuski, Journey’s front of house engineer, the band has few stipulations when it comes to its sound. “Journey is pretty hands-off for the most part,” Yakabuski said, “although they do ask me to keep the low end off the stage, so I try to keep the subwoofers from folding back onto the stage and keep the stage nice and clean.”

Journey’s latest tour started in June 2012, touring with Clair Global and their I5 loudspeaker system. This summer, Journey didn’t carry PA as there were many festivals and “one-off” shows, enabling Yakabuski to listen to the latest and greatest line array technology on the market. “I have to say that loudspeaker technology has really come a long way the past few years,” he said. “The VTX system was definitely one of the best we used this summer and we had five great shows with it. It wasn’t a problem at all keeping the low end off the stage with VTX.”

“The VTX system has a very nice clean and crisp high end,” Yakabuski added. “The whole midrange to high-end seemed really coherent and held together. There was also plenty of power, so we had no problems there.”

According to Yakabuski, a major advantage of VTX is how good it sounds right out of the box. “We used the JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software as well, which allowed us to take the low-end frequency response all the way down in the main V25 loudspeakers,” he said.

All in all, the five shows with the VTX system were a tremendous success. “[Clair System Engineer] David Quigley and I would like to thank [Plus 4 Marketing members] Keith Erickson and Jim Mathews, Alchemy Concert Systems [who provided the audio system in Aspen], as well as [Technical Support Lead, Tour Sound, JBL Professional] George Georgallis. They all put a lot of effort and time into making sure the system was set up properly. It makes it so much easier.”

Photo Credit: Matt Becker

Follow JBL Professional on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jblprofessional

Follow Crown Audio on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crownbyharman

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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Gabisom Rocks Rio with HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

NORTHRIDGE, California – Drawing approximately 600,000 fans over seven days, Rock in Rio was once again a rousing success, taking place at the City of Rock, a specially built venue on the site where the Olympic Village will be located for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Gabisom Audio Equipment, a longtime HARMAN JBL customer, deployed JBL VTX line arrays powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers for this year’s festival, marking the first time it has used VTX and I-Tech HD at the Rock in Rio festival.

As it has in years past, Rock in Rio once again featured performances by some of the biggest names in music, including Beyoncé, David Guetta, Muse, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, John Mayer, Bon Jovi and more.

Gabisom deployed a massive live PA system, featuring a total of 152 JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array elements, 46 VTX S28 arrayable subwoofers and 24 G28 ground-stacked subwoofers. Powering the system were 122 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers. The system was managed with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

“We have enjoyed tremendous success with JBL VERTEC® line arrays at previous Rock in Rio festivals and we saw this year’s festival as an opportunity to capitalize on the increased power and controllability of the VTX line arrays with Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers,” said Peter Racy, Chief Engineer of Brazil-based Gabisom Audio Equipment. “The system performed exceptionally and we are confident that our HARMAN products will continue to accommodate the needs of the audience and performers as Rock in Rio continues to grow each year.”

“Gabisom has been an important HARMAN partner for many years and has trusted our tour sound products as the premiere PA system solution for the main stage [Palco Mundo] at Rock in Rio,” said Jaime Albors, Senior Director, Global Sales Operations, HARMAN Professional. “There are many options out there and having them constantly select our products is a clear sign that JBL and Crown meet and exceed the expectations of Gabisom as well as the event producers and engineers using the system. I have been at the festival many times and it is impressive to see how this PA can overcome more than 100,000 roaring fans!”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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VER Tour Sound Perfectly Captures the Essence Music Festival with HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown I-Tech HD Amplifiers

NORTHRIDGE, California – For the 19th year, the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans hosted some of the biggest names in pop, R&B and hip-hop music, including Beyoncé, Maxwell, New Edition, Keyshia Cole, LL Cool J and Jill Scott. For the main stage in the Superdome, VER Tour Sound (VER) provided a massive HARMAN JBL VTX line array system powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.

With a ceiling height of more than 250 feet above the front-of-house position and a total volume of 125 million cubic feet, the main space in the Superdome posed some formidable acoustic challenges. “The Superdome is such a reverberant space that we had to not only ensure that we were able to cover such a large area, but that we were able to do so while tightly controlling the dispersion to ensure even coverage throughout the space,” said Jason Vrobel, System Engineer for VER Tour Sound.

The PA system on the main stage featured 18 JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array elements per side for the main arrays, with an additional 18 V25 elements on each side for side fill (hung at 45-degree angles relative to the main arrays), rounded out by another 12 V25 elements per side for rear fill (hung at 90-degree angles). For the low end, VER hung 16 VTX S28 subwoofers per side in a cardioid configuration behind the 45-degree angled arrays, along with 12 ground-stacked VTX G28 subwoofers per side. For center fill, VER hung left-right arrays of five VERTEC® VT4889 fullsize line array elements each, with six VT4887A compact line array elements on each side for front fill. The delay system featured a total of 24 VT4889 loudspeakers in four columns of six each.

No less than 154 Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers powered the system, with I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers assigned to the high and mid frequencies and I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers powering the lows and subwoofers. The system was controlled via JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

“We had a lot better of an outcome than I anticipated considering how reverberant the Superdome is,” Vrobel noted. “I attribute that to the VTX system and the support we received from HARMAN to help us properly configure the system and achieve uniform sound throughout the entire dome.”

“The VTX system and the Crown amplifiers performed incredibly well—the producers from the festival told me it was the best it had sounded in the festival’s 18-year history,” Vrobel said. “The support I received from [Senior Manager, Tour Sound, JBL] Paul Bauman, [Applications Engineer, JBL] Jay Fullmer and [Business Developer, Tour Sound, Crown] Eric Friedlander was fantastic and we’ll be working together a lot in the future.”

For more information on Video Equipment Rentals, please visit www.verrents.com

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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Linkin Park Rocks the Philippines’ SM Mall of Asia Arena With HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays and Crown VRACK Amplifier Systems

PASAY, Philippines — Touring in support of its new album Living Things, Linkin Park brought its high-powered alt-metal-rap-rock to the Philippines’ for only the second time in its career, performing at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on August 13. Audio for the 20,000-seat arena was supplied by Manila-based tour sound contractor SoundCheck (www.soundcheck.com.ph), with a massive sound system featuring 128 HARMAN JBL VTX Series line array loudspeakers and subwoofers powered by 30 Crown VRACK amplifier systems.

SoundCheck has supplied tour sound for top international and Philippines acts since 1992. The system deployed for Linkin Park included a total of 60 JBL VTX V25 line array elements and 60 VTX S28 subwoofers flown for the main and side PA. In addition, six JBL VERTEC® VT4888DP-PA powered midsize line array elements were used for the center cluster, and 16 VERTEC VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers and 12 VRX932LA-1 Constant Curvature loudspeakers were ground-stacked with the subs in cardioid configuration.

Thirty Crown VRACK amplifier racks and three custom Crown racks powered the loudspeakers. VRACK is a complete, transportable amplifier solution that includes Crown I-Tech HD Series power amps, analog and digital connections and a universal power distribution system, housed in a wheeled rack with a suspension system that enables VRACKs to be suspended. Total amplification for the Linkin Park system added up to 78 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers, nine I-Tech 9000 HD and 12 I-Tech 3500 HD amps. SoundCheck used JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software to set up and control the system.

Providing additional support to the SoundCheck team throughout load in and the show was HARMAN Professional Asia’s tour sound market manager, Vincent “Vinnie” Perreux. Although the SM Mall of Asia Arena is a very large 20,000-seat venue, once SoundCheck began the process of setting up the show, Perreux realized the amount of equipment requested on Linkin Park’s rider was actually going to be too much. “I think more audio professionals are starting to realize this now but the JBL VTX line arrays and subwoofers deliver far more output and coverage than other line arrays of their size, with more clarity, lower distortion and smoother tonal response,” Perreux noted.

In fact, when Perreux, SoundCheck and Linkin Park front of house mixer Ken “Pooch” Van Druten started the show, they left some of the top subwoofers completely off and kept the rest of the subwoofers between 7dB and 10dB down. “Even at the end of the show, when the band was going flat-out pedal to the metal and the audience was going nuts, we were still running the subs at -3.5dB,” said Perreux.

The Performance Manager software contributed greatly to SoundCheck’s ability to set up the sound system accurately before the first note was even played. Performance Manager enabled the crew to optimize the setup of the JBL VTX and VERTEC loudspeakers both in terms of determining the speakers’ physical deployment and in tuning the speakers using JBL’s V5 presets. Performance Manager also fully integrates with Crown’s VRACK. “We actually had to use a very light touch on the Crown amplifiers’ built-in OmniDrive HD DSP processing,” Perreux pointed out, “and Pooch only had to use four filters on his master EQ when mixing the show.”

“The sound was fantastic and Linkin Park, the band’s crew and the promoter were happy and really enjoyed the system,” Perreux concluded. “Mission accomplished!”

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 14,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.3 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013.

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