The 39th annual Redondo Beach 10k/5k race hosted thousands of costumed runners to kick off Super Bowl Sunday festivities. The race route took runners past some South Redondo Beach highlights, including King Harbor, The Esplanade, and Riviera Village. At the finish line in Seaside Lagoon, the Health & Fitness Expo attracted fitness enthusiasts with family activities, food and fitness industry vendors, and live music.
Bell Event Services provided production services for the entire event including sound reinforcement with VUE Audiotechnik loudspeakers.
The company was challenged with balancing a range of different audio sources for the outdoor events — from live race announcements, singing of the National Anthem, and a mix of live and recorded music keeping the high energy flowing.
Bell specified a mono-hang array of 16x VUE al-4 elements, the top-12 configured to distribute audio to Expo guests, and the bottom four to light up the sidewalk and street for runners and onlookers. Tim Campbell, audio/operations manager for Bell, had each box set at the same amplitude with no shading needed. The single array had an effective throw of more than 300 feet and reached the back of the Lagoon and beyond.
“The al-4s are just fantastic,” explains Campbell. “The al-4s delivered everything we expected. You can always trust in the natural sound of VUE’s Beryllium transducers. They are so easy to listen to, we never have anyone tell us to ‘turn it down’,” says Campbell.
Campbell’s tenure with VUE dates back to 2013 when he set out to replace Bell’s then-aging systems with leading-edge technology. Sara Elliott, VUE’s current COO, suggested Campbell should test out VUE’s al-system, and he decided to give the up-and-coming audio brand a shot. And according to Campbell, after hearing the VUE system, the decision was clear. “I was blown away with the scalability of the al-class,” said Campbell. “They didn’t even have to switch out any boxes. The Beryllium sound – it just never lies to you.”
But perhaps more importantly, VUE’s engineering pedigree is what really sealed the deal for Campbell. “When choosing a system these days, all you can trust is whose ears you’re buying, and VUE’s Mike Adams has the very best. Thanks to Mike’s influence, the entire VUE line is consistent and delivers class-leading fidelity,” said Campbell. Since that day, Bell has continued to annually expand their VUE arsenal.
Bell Event Services will kick off the very busy summer season by deploying its VUE al-class line array system at the upcoming Spyder Surf Fest in Hermosa Beach on April 23rd and at Fiesta Hermosa on May 26th-28th.
