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Pro Audio Consolidation Continues — LOUD Technologies Acquires Martin Audio

Pro Audio Consolidation Continues — LOUD Technologies Acquires Martin Audio

WOODINVILLE, WA — It was announced on March 6 that LOUD Technologies, Inc has entered into an agreement to purchase all of the outstanding capital stock of Martin Audio Limited of the UK. The purchase price for this acquisition will be estimated on the closing date and will take into account Martin's cash on hand, third party debt obligations and levels of net working capital, with a final purchase price calculation to be made after closing. Assuming a closing date of March 31, 2007 and fluctuations in levels of cash, third party debt and net working capital consistent with Martin's recent financial history, it is estimated that the purchase price will be between £17.25 million (US$33.2 million) and £18.25 million (US$35.1 million), depending on cash available to the company at closing and third party indebtedness outstanding as of the closing date. The purchase price may fall outside this range. Closing is expected to occur this month and is dependent upon customary conditions including the receipt of the required regulatory approvals.

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SymNet Keeps House, Senate Connected

MONTGOMERY, AL — SymNet DSP and expansion devices have been installed at the Alabama State House in Montgomery, where they provide processing, auto-mixing, matrixing and distribution functionality for the legislative spaces. This installation is part of an audio/visual upgrade at the State Legislature building, which was designed by special systems engineering firm NBTA Engineers, of Baton Rouge, La.

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Gear Stolen in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Time to pull together in support of one of our own, as Joe Walden of Sound Connections in Las Vegas had a truck containing a bunch of lighting gear stolen last night (Friday, March 2, 2007). Here are the details:

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Pro Media Refits Honda Center

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Bay area sound reinforcement contractors Pro Media of Hercules, Calif, recently replaced the entire speaker system at the Honda Center (aka Anaheim Pond) in Orange County, Calif. Four center clusters with 22 JBL cabinets each and 30 delay fills were installed, along with a ProPower RPD power distribution for the Crown amp racks. Approximately 4,000 feet of ProCable speaker cable was used. All loudspeakers and cable drops were replaced and operational in one week.

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Crown Audio XTi Series

Put yourself into Crown Audio’s product managers’ shoes: You have the renowned touring audio power amplifier line called the I-Tech, and you have the task to create a smaller mass music market version that sells for a competitive price but still has the features and power ratings this market wants. In this pursuit, I believe Crown has succeeded very well with the XTi line of amplifiers.

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AKG Perception 200

I don’t know about you, but I have noticed a trend with “affordable” condenser mics sounding “clunky” and requiring a lot of help in the EQ dept. Why bother making it affordable if it sucks? Add that with the reputation for delicacy — especially in some large diaphragm models more suited for the studio — and many of us avoid using them live. But these mics came to me in a very cool quasi-flight-looking case. For the price I was sur-prised AKG made the effort! The mics are very retro studio looking, and are extremely rugged (more on that in a minute).

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Presonus Digimax FS

Presonus has made some great live stuff over the years. I can’t even count the number of their 8-channel comps and gates I have seen in racks. I remember an EQ that had a special secret weapon — a button that killed 60-cycle hum. Loved that. But over the past decade the company has been going more and more in a digital/studio/recording direction and we have had little to talk about in regards to their gear. So when I got the call about the Digimax FS, it was a pleasant surprise.

But the alarm bells went off when he uttered The Phrase. “It was designed for the studio but we are seeing a lot of them used live."

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Event Tech Hails New Governor with New Consoles

HANOVER, MD — Event Tech brought out their Yamaha PM5D-RH and LS9 mixing consoles at the Maryland Governor's Inaugural Ball on January 17 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Event Tech rolled out their two Yamaha PM5Ds on the 3rd Floor Main stage, using one for front of house duty and one to mix monitors for Eddie Palmieri and his band. Event Tech also managed to snag some of Yamaha's new digital mixing boards the LS9-16 and LS9-32, which they put to use for the acts on the Cultural and Local Band stages, respectively.

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Klein + Hummel Release M 52

LAS VEGAS — The Klein + Hummel M 52 is a portable control monitor featuring a three-inch driver and built-in amplification that measures 4 3/4" x 6 7/8" x 4 5/8" and weighs 5.7 lbs. The M 52 is intended for situations where space is at a premium, such as small studios, broadcast vans, and mobile rigs. Control of volume and power are located on the front. In addition to new switching AC mains powering (85 – 230 V), the M 52 can be DC powered by a 12-20 volt battery via a four-pole XLR connector. The M 52 includes magnetic shielding and an all-aluminum enclosure. It features a transformer-balanced, +6 dBu XLR analog input and can be mounted with optional hardware to most surfaces, as well as rack-mounted.

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