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Harman Reaches Agreement with KKR

Harman Reaches Agreement with KKR

NORTHRIDGE, CA — When FOH queried Harman insiders about the collapse of the buyout deal with a couple of heavy hitting Wall Street investment banks, one person told us, "Sid is by no means a dumb guy and may in fact make Harman a ton of money for having them back out." Turns out he was right, as Harman, along with KKR and GS Capital Partners, announced this week a new agreement that will keep the bankers from paying the $225 million termination fee called for in the original contract, instead seeing them make a $400M investment in Harman that they cannot sell or hedge for at least one year.

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Meyer Sound MM-4XP Miniature Loudspeaker

Meyer Sound has announced the debut of the MM-4XP miniature loudspeaker, a self-powered version of the MM-4 miniature wide-range loudspeaker.  With a face measuring just four inches square, this compact product is designed for distributed systems where space is at a premium and in which a single light gauge cable can deliver both balanced audio and DC power over a long cable run of up to several hundred feet.
 

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Phillips Academy Graduates With Martin Audio

ANDOVER, MA — Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., used a new Martin Audio system during its 229th commencement. The system, provided by Balanced Input, was comprised of Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line arrays W8LMD downfill speakers and WS218X subs for the main coverage, Martin WM05s for fills and Martin LE 1200s for confidence monitors. Ashly PE Series amplifiers provided power for the speakers with onboard DSP under wireless control from a portable laptop.
 

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Abercrombie and Fitch Outfitted with Meyer Sound

LONDON — In the world of high-fashion retail, Abercrombie & Fitch has remained a frontrunner with their popular, youthful brand of casual apparel. When the successful retail and catalog operation decided to create a new class of flagship stores, they sought audio systems to create a hip, youthful vibe. The A&F team found the right fit with Meyer Sound's UltraSeries self-powered loudspeaker systems.
 

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Nightmare on Murphy Street Denver Edition.

“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” — Murphy’s Law

Back in the day (1982), I was the electronics tech for a sound company out on a major tour. More than 210 dates were booked, including a Euro tour leg, and I was a happy camper. Living on the bus was tight as there were 13 of us crammed into the Eagle 10, and seating accommodations rivaled that of the “Hot Bunk” approach used by the Navy — you get up from your seat, and the three-second rule applies: Three seconds later, someone else has your seat.

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EAW

Who:  Jeffrey Cox, vice president, EAW Brand Group.

What: Design and manufacture high-performance professional audio equipment.

Where: Facilities in Whitinsville, Mass., and Woodinville, Wash.

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Theory OR Practice

Yes, it is time to get back up on the soapbox and address the critics — in this case, the critics of FOH magazine and, especially, yours truly. From time-to-time we receive comments that FOH is not technical enough and doesn’t expose the readers to rigorous acoustical theories. Now I am all for rigorous acoustical theory, but I am in the upper five percentile of readers who actually understand what is being said and the incremental benefits of the theory being proffered. So I think I will leave those kinds of physics papers for the Audio Engineering Society (AES) transcripts and those other magazines that need to publish high-brow treatises to show editorial gravitas. BTW, our last reader survey found that just 10% of readers found FOH “not technical enough,” and nearly half that number said it was “too technical,” The majority (86%) placed us in the “just right” range.

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Sammy F. — Where Are You?

We’ve said a lot in these pages about how digital technology has shaped our audio lives, including the ability to create scenes or snapshots for a digital mixer ahead of time, and then store or load them into a desk for show time. Mixing systems such as the Digidesign Venue, DiGiCo D5, Soundcraft Vi6 and Yamaha PM5D have the ability for true total recall of every setting, which means we can preprogram a show at a rehearsal, store the settings into some sort of memory and then load that data into another desk of the same type on location. This summer, I observed that — instead of carrying their consoles on tour — many bands requested in their rider that a particular console be provided by the promoter. Once the band arrived on-site, the engineer loaded their show into the desk, and off they went.

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Powered or Not???

Over the last 10 years, we all have seen the market for self-powered speakers grow to the point where they are now at least as popular as nonpowered speakers. For someone like me, who has a small regional company and a relatively limited crew, using powered speakers makes my setup faster, easier and requires less thinking than a traditional passive speaker, amps and crossover system (the less-thinking part is very important for me and my crew). So, the next obvious question is: Why not use this self-powered speaker technology in a permanent house of worship installation?

The simple answer is that you can permanently mount self-powered speakers in any location where you would install nonpowered speakers (given that you have available Edison plugs). But why would you?

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Future Sonics EarMonitors

Anyone who has been paying attention already knows that I am a big fan of personal monitors. I have tried probably a dozen different models from at least four different companies, and using them as a performer has really helped me understand how to handle personal mixes as a sound guy.

 

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Peavey Distro

Where was this product 10 years ago? The answer is never satisfactory, but a lot of time is needed before clubs and other public venues can upgrade to current legal standards for power distribution. Peavey is the first broadline pro audio manufacturer to address this missing link in setting up sizable sound reinforcement systems.

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