How about one more Pro AV newsmakers for 2024? Promotions and partnerships haven't stopped, so let's get ready for a bigger 2025. Here is what you missed in Pro AV last week.
[Top Integrators 2024: Hiring Issues]
L-Acoustics to Open Future Americas Operations Headquarters at Nashville Yards
Southwest Value Partners, AEG, and L-Acoustics announced that L-Acoustics will open office space at Nashville Yards. Expected to launch in the summer of 2025, it will become the company’s major operations and creative hub for the Americas, joining its global hubs in Paris, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore.
L-Acoustics will be located in the development’s creative office building on the 4th level, along with AEG Presents. Anchored by CAA, the creative office building at Nashville Yards is the first of its kind in the city. Showcasing an articulated metal façade with ultra-clear glazing, the layered floor plates allow outdoor private terraces on every floor. Adjacent to The Pinnacle, the development’s state-of-the-art indoor live music and event venue, the building rises eleven stories above Church Street with large 40,000+ square foot floorplates, soaring ceiling heights, three levels of curated retail, dining, and entertainment along with best-in-class private amenities including meeting hubs, entertainment spaces, and a large outdoor vegetated deck overlooking Nashville Yards.
L-Acoustics will maintain a strong presence on the West Coast with global business, product management, communication, and application leadership functions based in Westlake Village, California.
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) celebrates its 30th anniversary of delivering RF support and solutions. PWS has supported a range of high-profile broadcast and live event projects such as every Super Bowl Halftime Show since 1997, award shows, music festivals, corporate events and major league sports.. PWS’ clients rely on the team for design and deployment services, helping to continuously deliver world-class events to their audiences.
In the 1980s and 1990s wireless microphone use experienced tremendous growth in the United States. At that time, the founder of PWS, James Stoffo, worked as a field engineer for Vega Wireless, a large manufacturer of high-end wireless microphones and communications systems. Part of Stoffo’s role was to travel and assist larger professional wireless users with engineering antenna systems and coordinating radio frequencies. “It quickly became clear that Orlando was a high traffic area for wireless use but lacked qualified service companies,” said Stoffo. “This was the perfect opportunity to create a small business with no financial capital. The product at that time was intellectual capital.”
One of the earliest projects that PWS was involved with was at Orlando’s largest theme park. “It was growing rapidly in the 1990s and was the greatest single user of wireless microphones and communications systems in the country, by far. As the park added multiple stage shows, they required assistance with frequency coordination throughout the grounds,” shared Stoffo. “In addition, Orlando was selected as one of the American cities to host The World Cup in 1994, which presented a global opportunity for PWS. I approached FIFA, which is the governing body for international soccer and was given authority as the overall RF Coordinator for all the games in every one of the cities in the United States. This put PWS on the map as the wireless microphone system authority nationwide.”
PWS began manufacturing its own products in 1997 and at that time Super Bowl XXXI was a catalyst event for the growth of the company. “The Super Bowl required custom products to maximize the chances for success,” said Stoffo. “PWS’ first custom product was a hand-built wireless in-ear monitor combiner using four 800 mW RF amplifiers and combining them onto one RF output. This enabled the performers to receive their first generation in-ear audio cleanly.”
“One of the greatest product contributions that PWS has made to the RF community is the Helical Antenna, developed in 1946 by Dr. John Kraus,” said Jim Van Winkle, general manager, PWS. “The company began using and manufacturing the Helical Antenna in the 1990s, and it is now widely used by nearly every music act, major event and television broadcaster.”
In 2002, PWS was acquired by Masque Sound, a provider of sound reinforcement and installations for Broadway’s greatest productions. The acquisition brought two like-minded entities together with respect to wireless operations and service.
Pro AV Around the Globe
Renkus-Heinz announced a strategic distribution partnership with HASOUB, a regional distributor specializing in Extra Low Voltage (ELV) systems and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This collaboration marks a pivotal step in Renkus-Heinz’s expansion in the Middle East, where the demand for Pro AV integration solutions is rapidly growing.
Powersoft is expanding its reach in Asia with the appointment of new distribution partners in three key territories. Qorsys AV Technologies is now the official distributor for Powersoft’s pro-audio technology in the Philippines, while Universal Procurement Systems (UPS) will represent the Italian brand in both Singapore and Vietnam.
