Tag: Resort Installation

Technomad Loudspeakers Blanket Snow-Covered Mountains of Scandinavian Ski Resort

BOSTON, January 22, 2013 — The largest ski resort in Northern Europe has amplified the lighting and sound experience for its guests, with Technomad advanced audio loudspeakers as the centerpiece.

SkiStar, located in the Åre municipality in northern Sweden, is giving skiers an interactive experience on the slopes with its new high-quality, multi-zone entertainment system.  The Technomad loudspeakers, projected by systems integration company Watt & Volt Sverige AB, communicate the history of SkiStar and deliver atmospheric audio in eight locations.   Watt & Volt worked alongside project leader Ljusarkitektur AB, which is responsible for the new lighting structure that accompanies the audio system.

The complete, synchronized system delivers a captivating lighting and sound experience to skiers, with audio originated through zoned DMX-controlled MP3 players.

“This is a completely new concept for ski resorts in the north of Europe, perhaps even beyond,” said Hamrin.  “To our knowledge, it is the only system in the north of Europe of its kind, in the way the ambient sounds connect surrounding areas with the lighting installation.”

Watt & Volt, which recently joined Technomad’s European dealer network, chose Technomad loudspeakers for their complete weatherproof construction and ability to withstand harsh outdoor environments — also noting excellent audio quality and broad coverage as benefits.

“There is nothing to compare with Technomad,” says Niklas Hamrin, managing director, of Watt & Volt.  “We find the audio quality to be very good, especially considering the extremely rugged build.  Their loudspeakers provide the appropriate protection considering the large snow amounts and extremely low temperatures, which can drop to between -30 and -40 Celsius.”

Technomad Paris loudspeakers, which provide full-range audio output in a classic column design, were installed at locations where musical reproduction and exceptional bass output were required.  Watt & Volt chose Technomad Vernal loudspeakers, the most compact model in the company’s portfolio, at stations where intelligible speech is a priority.  Hamrin added that both models satisfy unobtrusive audio system requirements from SkiStar and Ljusarkitektur.  The loudspeakers are installed alongside compact, protective, heated cabinets with built-in amplifiers to complete the outdoor installation.

Future expansion plans include the installation of more Technomad loudspeakers at outdoor gondolas throughout the resort.  The gondola systems will include battery-powered, RFID-controllable MP3 players built into ultra-compact, highly protective plastic cases.

Technomad Upgrades Audio Presence at Club Med Sandpiper

Weatherproof loudspeakers power soothing background music and high-energy musical entertainment, with the durability to survive the harsh local climate

BOSTON, January 30, 2012 — Systems integration firm Axxentos of Fort Lauderdale, Florida turned to Technomad upon evaluating the outdoor audio needs of Club Med Sandpiper in nearby Port St. Lucie.  The new outdoor audio systems, featuring 14 Technomad weatherproof loudspeakers, comprise part of a property-wide renovation alongside indoor AV upgrades and general construction projects.

Club Med Sandpiper’s 400-square-mile resort property exists in southern Florida’s sweltering climate, requiring durable outdoor audio systems that can withstand the year-round heat, humidity and moisture.  The resort also required high-quality loudspeakers that could power full-range, high-volume audio over long distances, and reproduce soothing background music at clearly audible levels.

“I’ve learned what gear can survive in harsh environments over the years, and from all the outdoor installations I have done, only one company reliably endures the elements — and that is Technomad,” said Olivier De Kegel, owner and president of Axxentos.  “They also produce great sounding audio.”

The external pool system proved the biggest challenge as De Kegel had little guidance from the resort, other than that management wanted a nice-sounding background music system during the afternoon and a louder system in the evenings.  He installed two Technomad Berlin loudspeakers, the largest loudspeaker in the company’s range, to take care of both requests with one system.  The Berlins accommodate every activity from Bingo to full-blown nightclub-style events.

Axxentos installed a 70-volt infrastructure to accommodate long cable runs from a new central audio headend to various areas, including the bar.  Ten Technomad Vernal 70-volt loudspeakers power the bar zone, delivering music and entertainment to guests enjoying daytime activities and the nightlife.

Two Technomad Noho loudspeakers also welcome guests with high-energy music audio at the entrance as they check in, with lower-volume background music playing in between arrivals.

“The resort wanted a system they could easily manipulate at the welcome area to balance loud and soft audio, and the Nohos offer power that is closer to the Berlin but compact enough for installation at the entrance,” said De Kegel.

Elsewhere, Axxentos installed AV systems in new conference rooms, built a mobile DJ unit and renovated a large theater system, merging existing equipment with some new components.  But the outdoor audio systems remain the crown jewel of the resort upgrades.

“This was my largest installation to date, with some interesting upgrades and unique challenges,” said De Kegel.  “They went from being fully analog to a more digital, centralized model.  There won’t be any dull nights with the high-quality audio systems they have, and the durability of the Technomads ensure they won’t have to replace the outdoor systems every two years.”

ABOUT TECHNOMAD

Technomad LLC, founded in 1995, designs and manufactures loudspeaker systems for the professional audio and security/military technology industries.  The company invented the first reliable full-range weatherproof loudspeaker and now offers nine models ranging in power from 60-watt loudspeakers to 1250-watt subwoofers — most available in Turnkey PA System packages featuring amplifiers, mixers and other signal processing equipment in pre-wired racks.  The company also manufactures a variety of audio infrastructure and communications equipment including playback and recording systems, weatherproof power amplifiers and turnkey remote audio systems.  Contact Technomad at 617-275-8898 or visit http://www.technomad.com for more information.

Technomad Loudspeakers Installed at Club Med, Cancun

Club Med Cancun Goes High Tech w/Technomad Loudspeakers

Hurricane Wilma tore through the Gulf of Mexico in early fall, 2005, settling on top of the Yucatan Peninsula and barely moving for 48 hours. After making its exit, some of Mexico’s most famous resort areas, including the city of Cancun, were left battered and faced with a long period of rebuilding.

Club Med Cancun, with its shoreline location, was just one of many resorts that sustained heavy damage from winds, rain and an unrelenting storm surge. The club took the opportunity to rebuild its lighting and sound infrastructure along with much of its resort, favoring high-fidelity audio products and a lighting system that was easy to operate yet technically advanced enough to produce the right atmosphere in each room.

The Core Audio team, in cooperation with Whump Sound, a Los Angeles based dealer specializing in audio installations, led the systems integration. Technomad loudspeakers were selected for all open-air venues, partially due to the true weatherproof design of the loudspeakers. These venues include a mix of restaurants, bars and entertainment areas plus the valet greeting area in front of the resort.

According to Bill Weir of Core Audio, Many resorts of this size put budget over any other consideration when choosing equipment and the audio reproduction at the end point is anything but musical. Club Med Cancun uses a 24-bit distribution system that plays back high resolution audio files, and that fidelity is well represented in each zone due to the choice of loudspeakers … the range of products that can withstand the Cancun environment is very limited, and Technomad meets both the musical and environmental requirements.

The outdoor entertainment area, known as The Chispa, offers a movie theater and a performance area with an exceptional A/V and lighting system. The central kiosk area is peppered with palm trees that are lit using Color Kinetics color blasts. The LED fixtures for each palm tree are automated using a Martin Light Jockey control system, with 220 volt power lines providing juice to each palm tree. Like the Soluna, the lighting for this zone is customized to match the event, and can be manually operated on theme nights using a small 8-button switcher. Martin 250 Kryptons and Washes were also installed in the theater area.

The Chispa movie theater is perhaps the most unique aspect of the resort, and according to Weir, a one-of-its-kind system. The integration team painted one side of a three-story hotel building on the resort with retro-reflective, high-gain paint. Guests can sit on the beach or on bench seating in the pool area to watch movies projected onto the building.
DJs and performance groups can also take advantage of this outdoor entertainment area. A pair of Technomad Berlin loudspeakers was purchased for mobile events, and plug in to rack systems on the performance stage.

The remaining room-to-room breakdown of Technomad loudspeakers include: The Pergola, a beach bar that features four Noho-C Install loudspeakers hung 9 feet above the crowd and two Chicago 15/H Install subwoofers at two corners along the baseboards; eight Vernals 15’s in The Chispa and Las Velas, the pool bar; and Noho-C Install and Vernal 15 loudspeakers in the valet area, which play back low volume music as guests enter the resort. Crown DSI series amplifiers are used to power the audio in each of these zones, offering full parametric EQ, crossover functions and basic signal processing.

The Berlins were specifically chosen for mobile events because they are high quality, full range portable loudspeakers that can be used anywhere on the resort at a moment’s notice, said Weir. They offer a full range of sound with excellent bass response and a very nice tonal quality that is ideal for DJ sets. In the Pergola, the Nohos produce enough sound pressure levels at 1 a.m. so that people who want it loud can turn up the volume, but still produce a full, pleasing sound at lower volumes. This was the same idea we had for the Vernal 15 installation in the pollapa, with a higher emphasis on producing clearly audible sound at low levels for conversational situations.

Note: This article was originally published in a longer format in the October, 2007 printed and online editions of Lighting & Sound America.

Technomad Loudspeakers Achieve IP56 Performance Rating

Technomad Loudspeakers Achieve Full Range IP56 Performance Rating from IEC for Protection against Hazardous Elements

BOSTON, November 28, 2007 – Technomad Associates, LLC, a leader in weatherproof outdoor loudspeakers and Turnkey PA systems, today announced that its complete line of loudspeakers and subwoofers are compliant with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) IP56 rating under its IP Code. IP56 is a stringent standard for superior protection against hazardous parts and water ingression, and is an extremely rare rating for full-range outdoor loudspeakers. IEC provides international standards and conformity assessments for government, business and society for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

The IP Code defined in IEC’s international standard 60529 classifies the level of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects, dust, water and accidental contact. All Technomad products ranging from its 60-watt Vernal 15 loudspeaker to the 800-watt Chicago 15/12 subwoofer have an IP56 rating, reflecting the company’s philosophy for manufacturing rugged, reliable outdoor loudspeakers that also offer exceptional audio quality with clear voice intelligibility and outstanding musical output.

Following IP for International Protection or Ingress Protection rating, the first digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against access to hazardous parts and the ingress of solid foreign objects. The second digit indicates equipment protection levels inside the enclosure against harmful water ingression. Officially, a 5rating for the first digit means that dust ingression will not interfere with the operation of the equipment and offers complete protection against contact; a 6 rating for the second digital means that water projected in powerful jets against the enclosure from any direction results in no harmful effects.

Technomad loudspeakers are installed around the world in cruise ships, theme parks, sports stadiums, outdoor entertainment venues, and other harsh environment fixed system and mobile applications in military, government and private sectors. Many of these installations are reliant on Technomad’s IP56 rating due to constant exposure to dust, water and other harsh elements in booth indoor and outdoor environments. Recent examples include:

Tyco Fire & Building Products: Technomad Vernal 15 loudspeakers are consistently exposed to water and high humidity inside the new training and test facility in Cranston, Rhode Island. Six loudspeakers are installed on the perimeter of a concrete block spray distribution area featuring various sprinkler systems, hydraulics and spray patterns.

Club Med Cancun: Technomad loudspeakers are exposed year-round to sand, sea salt and rain outside on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

National Training Center at Ft. Irwin: Technomad Military PA systems sit outside in the California desert all year, broadcasting Sunni and Shiite prayers in makeshift Iraqi villages as they are continually exposed to wind-blown sand and dust.

Technomad loudspeakers feature true integrated weatherproofing as opposed to weatherized or weather-resistant loudspeakers that compromise acoustic performance and have a short shelf life in unprotected outdoor installations, said David Meyer, Commercial Sales Manager for Technomad. We are pleased to announce that our products meet the superior IP56 rating from IEC, a highly respected international electrical standards organization.

Technomad Installed at Premiere Baja Mexico Nightclub / Resort

» More Information on Outdoor Audio Systems

Papa’s & Beer, located in Rosarito, Mexico, resemble a mysterious fantasy city one would expect Indiana Jones to stumble across in his traverses through the darker continents of Africa or South American. Six story tall wood pillars as wide as a car tires, support fantastically designed wooden structures that appear as if they rival gravity to stay aloft. Palm trees and other exotic foliage sway in the hot Mexican breeze and in the evening, huge, natural gas-fed flames make Papas & Beer visible, if not from space, then to ships out on the horizon. This massive, multi-level structure, sprawls on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, a quick thirty miles drive south of San Diego. On any given evening, especially weekends and those times during the year when colleges around America release their party-starved masses, this Mecca to beguilement, plays host to over 4,000, sometime scantily clad, thrill seekers. Herman Addleson, President of Bright Ideas, of Chula Vista, California, comments, “I have seen young ladies make use of only Papa’s & Beer bumper stickers to create some very interesting bikini designs, especially when the parties really get going later in the evening.” Mr. Addleson adds, “Needless to say, Papas & Beer can be a very fun place.” Mr. Addleson, along with assistance of towards 2000 of Burbank, California, takes credit for installing the new 24,000 watt sound system consisting of, primarily Technomad loudspeakers, QSC amplification, and Rane DJ equipment. The location of the massive Papa’s & Beer nightclub is a mere few hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean, and a steady wind comes off the water constantly. The salt air, blazing sun, sand and incredibly fine dust, and often times, sea spray, does not make for the healthiest of atmospheres for loudspeakers and other very sensitive audio equipment. The first task was to install a powerful enough speaker system to make the party goers happy, but also to make the management happy in the respect they did not want to repair weather damaged loudspeakers constantly. Mr. Addleson, turning to Danny Quinones of towards 2000, needed to find a loudspeakers system that would endure these harsh elements.

Danny recommended Technomad loudspeakers for the project. Danny was familiar with Technomad loudspeakers from reading about similar Technomad applications aboard Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and American Hawaiian Cruise Lines, as well as Universal Studios Hollywood. Built into military specification 810E cabinets with highly weather resistant components and drivers, Technomad loudspeakers are designed for installations such as Papas & Beer. Technomad manufactures the only line of off-the-shelf high-powered, high-fidelity loudspeakers that are resistant to water, sand, salt, temperature, mold, mildew, and condensation, chemical, insect and other damage. To withstand what the Pacific can do to sensitive audio equipment, Technomad was the best choice for the Papa’s & Beer installation. Nineteen QSC MX and EX series amplifiers, totaling over 24,000 Watts of power, drive the 44 speaker sound system. The QSC amplifiers were chose for “reliability” according to Quinones, indifference to the unforgiving environment and the high demands of the sound system. EX 2500s fuel the lows with 1,000 Watts/ch at 2 Ohms, while EX 1600s power the mids (800 Watts/ch), and EX 1250s handle the highs (600 Watts/ch). The EX and MX amplifiers also feature high-efficiency step-linear output circuits to minimize waste heat and increase efficiency by up to 40%. The Class H-type circuits allows the amplifiers to use less power when it reproduces lower-power signals, yet keeps a reserve of high power available for accurate reproduction of peaks. Eight Technomad Cairo-3 way biamped loudspeakers are suspended over the large open-air, elevated primary dance area and the centralized volleyball court. The very deep low-end response of the Technomad Cairo eliminates the need for additional subwoofers, thereby allowing more floor space for the dancers, as well as delivering greater low-end into areas that cannot accommodate large format subs. Eight ultra-compact Technomad Chicago subwoofer, newly augmented with Cerwin-Vega subs, are distributed in ‘close-quarter’ areas where larger format subwoofers would eat-up too much physical space. Four Berlin 15/H model loudspeakers are used in the secondary dance area, along with two ‘surviving’ JBL SR-series 15″ 2-way cabinets. Eight Noho/C loudspeakers are distributed through-out the entryway to the facility, and on two of the upper level bar areas and the mini dance floor next to the main bar. Eight Electro Voice SX 200 loudspeakers, augmented by four Electro Voice SB 200 subwoofers, provide the music for the two ground level main bar areas. The newest innovative audio mixing gear available from Rane, Denon and Studio quad was installed along with a unique zone-control system. From the booth the DJ can control five different zones of sound in 8 different areas of the facility. The DJ booth was completely re-designed and enlarged to make room for the new equipment. Two Rane mixers, Studioquad effects, a BBE Sonic Maximizer, crossovers and limiters are from DBX and Rane, dual CD and cassette players are from Denon, two Techniques turntables and a Samson wireless mic system adorn the massive, air-conditioned DJ booth that overlooks the entire facility and the 4,000 partiers who are usually on hand. A new modular rack system with storage capacity for over 1,500 records, 1,000 CDs and 500 videos, was also installed. DJ’s can quickly find the music or videos they are looking for on the fly, as opposed to having the music partially hidden and inaccessible as in the past.