The LSI Loudspeaker Demo is coming to the USITT 2017 Annual Conference & Stage Expo in St. Louis this week, specifically on Thursday, March 9 and Friday, March 10. The line-up of seven participating manufacturers will be presenting both larger- and smaller-format systems in three full demo sessions each day, along with 30-minute individual demonstration sessions each day.
Open and free of charge to all USITT attendees, audio professionals, church sound personnel and other interested parties, the demo is being held at the Ferrara Theatre at show site America’s Center in downtown St. Louis.
The Ferrara Theater is a 1,400-seat, multi-level, fan-shaped, state-of-the-art live performance proscenium venue. One nifty aspect is that the demo is being presented in an actual working theatre and thus attendees will get the bonus of evaluating the loudspeakers in a truly relevant environment. The loudspeakers will reside on the stage, with the larger systems flown.
Participating manufacturers include these market leaders:
Adamson Systems Engineering
Alcons Audio
D.A.S. Audio
dBTechnologies
Electro-Voice
Martin Audio
Renkus-Heinz
The event delivers a unique controlled environment demonstration providing side-by-side listening opportunities, in addition to offering further technical details and pricing information from qualified representatives of each company participating in the demo.
Specifically at USITT, each full demo session will offer two parts: first, a focus on smaller systems, followed by a spotlight on larger systems. In each part, all participating systems are played in a round-robin, random format, supplied with identical audio tracks.
Here’s the schedule of demo sessions:
Thursday, March 9
11 am — Full Demo Session
Noon — Adamson Demo Session
12:30 pm — Alcons Audio Demo Session
1 pm — D.A.S. Audio Demo Session
1:30 pm — Electro-Voice Demo Session
2 pm — Full Demo Session
3 pm — Martin Audio Demo Session
3:30 pm — Renkus-Heinz Demo Session
4 pm — Full Demo Session
5 pm — dBTechnologies Demo Session
Friday, March 10
10:30 am — dBTechnologies Demo Session
11 am — Full Demo Session
Noon — Renkus-Heinz Demo Session
12:30 pm — Martin Audio Demo Session
1 pm — Electro-Voice Demo Session
1:30 pm — D.A.S. Audio Demo Session
2 pm — Full Demo Session
3 pm — Alcons Audio Demo Session
3:30 pm — Adamson Demo Session
4 pm — Full Demo Session
The demo is under the technical direction of LSI/PSW senior contributing editor Craig Leerman, who will also serve as emcee for demo sessions, utilizing a Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid wireless microphone system. Engineer Nicholas Radina will be plying his talents on a DiGiCo SD12 digital console to manage and deliver audio to each system, all linked with premium Whirlwind cabling. Power conditioning and protection to keep everything running smoothly comes courtesy of a Furman F1500-UPS.
To insure sound level conformity, all systems are fed pink noise, with the designated SPL set and confirmed. This process, managed by Leerman and Radina, is based on portable metering incorporating an iSEMic 725TR base kit-2. In addition, the 10EaZy measurement platform from Rational Acoustics, receiving input from a centrally located measurement mic, supplies constant SPL readings to attendees via a large video monitor during all demo sessions.
Prize drawings of professional audio gear will be held immediately following each full demo session. Prizes include Renkus-Heinz CFX41 compact coaxial loudspeakers, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x studio headphones, Electro-Voice ND76 microphones, a Smaart v8 license plus an RTA420 measurement mic from Rational Acoustics, a Furman F1500-UPS power conditioner/UPS, and a CAD Audio 3000 Series wireless microphone system, D90 vocal microphones, and E19 earworn microphones.
Go to livesound-demo.com to find out more about the demo and to register to attend. Again, specific demo dates are Thursday, March 9 and Friday, March 10, with three full sessions each day.
The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) connects performing arts design and technology communities to ensure a vibrant dialog among practitioners, educators, and students. This year’s Expo in St. Louis promises to be one of the best to date, with pre-registration numbers and total exhibitors both at a very high rate.
