Organized by Reed Exhibitions UK, the biennial SPE Offshore Europe conference and exhibition is the largest upstream oil and gas event outside North America.
With some 1,500 exhibitors, the convention attracts an audience of around 50,000 visitors, including engineers, technical specialists, industry leaders, and experts from all over the world.
Held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, around 25,000 square meters (270,000 square feet) of temporary exhibition space is created in five giant marquees. Not surprisingly, a substantial PA system is required for information and safety announcements.
Taylored Sound, the Aberdeen-based pro audio rental and installation specialists, were commissioned to design and install the PA for the recent exhibition, and they designed a system based around Community R.25 loudspeakers.
“The power and 90 x 40 degree dispersion of the Community R.25 was ideally suited for the large areas to be covered,” commented Taylored Sound’s Jimi Troup. “Their spoken word intelligibility is exceptional, and their compact size and light weight were a real advantage for fast installation. The entire break down took only three hours with just two people.”
A total of sixty-six R.25s were used to provide complete coverage for Halls 1 through 4, as well as at the entrance gates. In the four main halls the R.25s were mounted in pairs, spaced evenly along the apex of the steel-framed marquees. A Symetrix Solus 8, with eight mic/line inputs and eight outputs, provided paging configuration and control and the 28,000W available from three Powersoft K8 amplifiers provided more than ample headroom for the system.
“We brought in the complete stock of R.25s specifically for this event, and it was a good investment,” said Troup, “The organizers thanked us, saying it was the best PA they’d ever had for the exhibition. These R.25 loudspeakers will continue to lift the standard of audio quality for the great many smaller events we provide for throughout the year. They are incredibly robust, and with the Community heritage for all-weather durability we can use them at any type of public event. With many years of service ahead, these hard-working loudspeakers will pay back their investment many times over.”
