Richmond International Raceway in Virginia is arguably one of the most popular racetracks in motorsports. “America’s Premier Short Track,” as it is known, is home to the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, as well as a full calendar of other events. With most races held under the lights, the 94,000-seat venue is outfitted with the latest in high-tech lighting, signage and sound, including a unique system of rear-firing loudspeakers from Community.

The track is covered by an assortment of Community WET and R-Series loudspeakers, mounted on poles behind the grandstands at a height of 25 to 30 meters. The rear-mounted system provides improved coverage and better sightlines for the audience and television cameras. Selected for their superior weather resistance, powerful output, exceptional coverage and high intelligibility, Community WET and R-Series loudspeakers are a popular choice for many of the nation's racetracks, sporting arenas and other venues where power and performance are key.

Community's Distributed Design Series has been expanded to include a standard black version of the 6.5-inch D6 for nightclubs, bars, restaurants, or any other application requiring a black ceiling loudspeaker. The new D6-B, like all Distributed Design Series ceiling systems, provides exceptionally high quality sound with very wide, uniform coverage. The face-only assembly and optional accessories for the D6 including the Face Adapter Ring and Can Adapter/Trim Ring are also available in matching black finishes. The D6-B complies with UL1480, UL2043 and CSA60065.

Cedar Sports Management Ltd recently outfitted its new Bar Sport location in Maidenhead, Berkshire with a complete sound system based around Community. The new Bar Sport venue is located at Grenfell Island, a popular area in the town for cafes, bars, restaurants and the cinema.

The main audio system was designed using Community's Distributed Design line of ceiling loudspeakers to maintain clear sightlines to the bar's 42 video screens in the low ceiling venue. The room has four zones over two levels and required fifteen D6 ceiling loudspeakers to provide optimum coverage. The high efficiency of the D-Series allowed designers to tap each loudspeaker at 15W and still comfortably drive the system with ample headroom.

The challenging area from a design perspective was the central dance floor with ceiling height and sightline issues making traditional large box loudspeakers unacceptable. The solution was four Community MX10 loudspeakers, ceiling mounted at each corner of the dance floor. The MX10's were easily directed to the dance floor minimizing spill, both within and outside the venue to surrounding residential areas. The dance floor system is completed by two Community VLF212 subwoofers which add the perfect amount of low frequency energy making the venue suitable for both live music events and DJ entertainment.

Galvin's Restaurant is one of Georgetown's most popular watering holes, with a bustling restaurant and a crowd of friendly regulars who gather to shoot the breeze and watch their team, the Southeastern Conference University of Kentucky Wildcats. Like most busy establishments, there are those who come to watch the game, and others who want to hang out with friends. And as often happens, the banter of those enjoying each others' company can make it hard for others to hear the game.

The restaurant had four small wall-mounted loudspeakers, and when things got busy the ambient noise made it hard for people to hear. Some customers would ask for it to be turned up, and others would complain that it was too loud. The room's reflective acoustics simply did not allow adding additional or louder wall mounted loudspeakers. The solution was to focus the sound downward using a distributed system of Community DP6 pendant loudspeakers. Eighteen of the pendant loudspeakers are suspended from the open-beam ceiling - three over the bar and the rest covering a pair of tables each. Each loudspeaker is wired to a custom-designed control box and the restaurant manager can adjust each individual loudspeaker's level to suit the customers' taste.

The HOW-TO ASSIST Tour (Academy of Sound System Integration, Setup & Troubleshooting) is a training tour designed to provide sound and electrical contractors and sound system installers with the best possible training on how to setup, integrate and troubleshoot live sound systems of any size.

ASSIST classes are manufacturer supported and approved, with a final test and certificate of completion included at the end of the 8-hour classroom program. Visit howtosound.com/ASSIST to register for the seminar, or view a list of scheduled dates and cities in 2012. Check the schedule for How-To-Sound Ministry workshops coming to a city near you and use coupon code "CPL20" to receive 20% off registration.

In-person Seminar Schedule Sound Reinforcement for Technicians August 27-29 - Salt Lake City, UT September 17-19 - Washington, DC Core Principles of Audio (special one-time event) October 17-18 - LDI Show in Las Vegas, NV
To register, please call Brenda at 812-923-0174 or register online.
Web-Based Training Watch this VIDEO to view SynAudCon's Approach to Web-based Audio Training. The training is taught by Pat Brown and approved for Continuing Education Units.