CASE STUDIES
Mmabatho Convention Center
System Solutions, part of the Gearhouse group of companies, not only has a proven track record as system integrators, but has also established itself as leading importers and distributors of various ranges of top quality entertainment equipment and technology. This made the company the ideal choice for the recent upgrade of the audiovisual system in the Mmabatho Convention Center.
According to Derek Marsden, Distribution Manager at System Solutions, the project was outsourced to the company by the Mmabatho Provincial Government.
Marsden explains that the brief was simple enough, but that the venue posed a few unique problems. “Our brief was to provide a loudspeaker system capable of pristine vocal clarity, as well as the ability to provide for music playback. Vocal clarity was at the top of the list of requirements, as the venue is used quite regularly for high profile government events with important dignitaries such as the South African President as keynote speakers. Another requirement was to provide for audiovisual projection and video processing.”
One of the major problems was the lack of coverage offered by the existing system that was only semi-functional after more than ten years of use. The shape of the venue posed another challenge. “It has a hexagonal design measuring 60m across with a floor-to-roof-height of approximately 15m and an aproximate 7 seconds reverb time creating a poor environment for speech intelligibility. ”
The System Solutions-team decided to recruit the help of Bruce Gesner of Gesner Designs. “Bruce is a tremendously experienced acoustician from Durban. Using TEF audio analysis equipment he was able to map the acoustic response of the venue across all critical frequencies. He then proceeded to input the data into Renkus-Heinz EASE acoustic modelling software.”
Gesner decided on Renkus-Heinz 13 CFX151 to deal with the high and mid- frequency duties and 2 CFX181 to take care of the low frequencies, Marsden explains. “Solid toroidal power supply Work SPMax 3600’s were employed to deal with the amplification, allowing for sufficient headroom to handle the dynamics. The Yamaha DME24 seamlessly deals with the complex delay configuration and room equalization. FOH mixing provided for by Yamaha, microphones were provided by Sennheiser, with an ASL ring-com system taking care of communications between front of house and stage.”
The portable projection requirement was taken care of by Christie LX650’s with Extron IN1508’s. This enables switching to multiple video sources.
According to Marsden the client was more than happy with the final product. “We provided a user friendly yet powerful audiovisual solution. With the installation, we managed to exceed all expectations, achieving the kind of clarity not to be expected in a room with a seven second reverb-time.”
System Solutions was also responsible for the 2008-upgrading of the uShaka Marine World's Dolphin Stadium. The company offers a wide range of world class brands ideally suited to public venues, exhibitions and displays, property development and architectural design applications. It also offers product lines for home and office use.
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