Marquee Audio have embarked on the first four audio installations for an expanding pub chain operating in the Brighton and Guildford area. Zelgrain Ltd have grown their own estate to 25 leisure outlets in near record time, following the acquisition of Original Pub Holdings (OPH). The first refurbishment has seen the conversion of The Old Richmond, a legendary punk rock venue in Brighton's city centre, into Pressure Point. Marquee's Scott Wakelin designed the live PA system around Turbosound TCS series contractor products. These are driven by Yamaha P4500 and QSC Powerlight amplifiers via a BSS FDS-360 electronic crossover. This forms part of a highly specified FOH network of audio equipment, which also includes a Soundcraft Spirit 16/4/3 mixing console, BSS Opal Constant Q graphic, Behringer comp/limiters and Yamaha digital reverb. An existing CA SR707 was redeployed. Stage monitoring is provided by two Yamaha P4500 amps powering Renkus Heinz Q15s, while six each of Shure's classic SM57 and SM58 mics also form part of the order.

Stage Electrics are holding another sale on 1st April 2000. The Auction is being held near the company's Birmingham branch in Smethwick (one minute from Junction 1 off the M5). Lots will include Strand spotlights, including Brio, Prelude, Optique and Cantata. Follow spots, Martin Roboscans, smoke machines, radio mics, LCD video projector, Spirit Soundmixer, flight cases, trussing and corners and much more. Auction catalogues can be obtained by faxing 0121 525 2413 or emailing auction@stage-electrics.co.uk Catalogues will be mailed out after the 20 th March.

Overt Light to Sound - a new distribution company, handling both lighting and sound equipment - has been launched by Malcolm Burlow. Burlow has been in the industry for more than 15 years, most recently working with Electrovbision, but prior to that with DJ2000 which had the sole UK distributor rights to Numark. The company will distribute a wide range of products from major manufacturers worldwide.

Concert Systems, the Altrincham-based PA system company, have committed around £1 million in stock to a major new enterprise in Scandinavia. The heart of Paul Tandy's operation, which he will run as a joint venture with Audio Industries of Stockholm, is a massive EAW KF750 rig, purchased from UK distributors Sound Dept, which will extend his existing fleet. Tandy says that this already vast EAW inventory has been increased with the addition of 32 KF750s, six KF755 downfill boxes and 32 SB1000 sub bass, which will be depoted in Oslo and Stockholm. This will bring his total EAW stockholding to 120 KF750, 12 KF755, 24 KF850, 80 SB1000 and 12 BH852 enclosures. The development has been stimulated by a growing work roster in Scandinavia, including a major tour by the Norwegian Gospel Choir and artists such as Smokey, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker and leading Scandinavian band, Secret Garden.

Overt Light to Sound - a new distribution company, handling both lighting and sound equipment - has been launched by Malcolm Burlow. Burlow has been in the industry for more than 15 years, most recently working with Electrovision, but prior to that with DJ2000 which had the sole UK distributor rights to Numark. The company will distribute a wide range of products from major manufacturers worldwide.

The Victorian Arts Centre has recently completed Australia's largest permanent theatre system installation in its Melbourne Concert Hall. Totalling more than 35 self-powered loudspeakers systems, provided by Meyer Sound Australia, the system design was no small feat.The new pro-audio system in the 2,600-seat hall comprises a central cluster of three Meyer MSL-4s over two CQ-1s with a UPA-IP and UPA-2P on either side. The balcony downfills include a left/centre/right configuration of CQ-2s over DS-4Ps for the left and right and a CQ-1 over a DS-4P for the centre down fill. 24 UPM-1P making up the under balcony fills. In addition, a PSW-6 per side is located above the stage and a left and right array of two DS-4Ps, 4 MSL-4s and a CQ-1 flown over 2 PSW-6s.

Celestion's latest addition to the contractors' range of speakers, the KR Series, is the versatile KRc, designed for use in hotels, offices, schools, hospitals, transport termini and public venues.The KRc is a ceiling-mount enclosure capable of high-quality background music and high level voice paging. With power handling of 100W, the unit has a full range response of 80 - 20,000Hz, thanks to its two-way configuration featuring a reflex loaded 5.25" bass driver and a coaxially mounted polymer tweeter.

Production Resources Group is to hold an auction for the Lighting Group and the Audio Group which will see a range of automated lights, dimmers, scrollers, speakers, processing equipment audio and lighting consoles go under the hammer. The auction will be held at 3026 Airport Avenue in Santa Monica, CA on Wednesday 15 March beginning at 11.00am. A preview of the equipment to be auctioned will take place on Tuesday 14 March at the same location, from 11.00am to 4.00pm. Auction catalogues (available 7 March onwards) can be downloaded from the PRG website whilst LA-411 will also be accepting pre-auction bids on equipment via their web site at www.la411.com. The proceedings will be transmitted live via the LA411 web site the day of the event.

Celestion has announced a key addition to its international sales network: Greater Union Entertainment Technology (GUET) has been awarded exclusive distribution rights for Celestion loudspeakers in Australia. With expertise ranging across sound, projection and lighting, the company now maintains offices throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe, distributing brands such as Hafler, Studiomaster, Mogami, Klipsch, and Monster Cable. GUET has a specialist division dedicated to sound, video and lighting (SVL) contracting work, which will be particularly applicable to Celestion's expanding range of installation systems. Celestion and GUET make their first joint appearance at the Entech 2000 trade show.

Philips CSI has launched a new generation of amplifier - the Plena PA amplifier. The new product combines many different functions such as PA messaging, emergency messaging with priority over-ride and optional background music with simple installation and configuration. Up to four different microphones can be connected, with priority provided for emergency announcements over background music. The range features three single-zone mixer amplifiers rated at 30W, 60W and 120W and a two-zone 120W mixer, whilst two additional booster amplifiers, rated at 120W and 240W, extend the reach of the system to cover larger areas.

Celestion has launched two additions to its CXi Series. The CXi 1531 is a three-way full-range loudspeaker, the largest in the CXi range, designed for sound reinforcement applications where high-power performance from a single enclosure is required. Ideal for use in small to medium sized music venues and as a full-range club box, the CXi 1531 has controlled dispersion, is easy to array and simple to fly. At the other end of the spectrum is the new CXi 521. This two-way passive loudspeaker is an ultra compact trapezoidal loudspeaker offering full-range high-definition performance. Designed for space-critical applications, the CXi521 is high performance yet ultra compact and can be easily installed in both horizontal and vertical formats. The CXi Series has been further extended with the upgrade of the CXi 1022HP, a dedicated mid-high cabinet using 2 x 10" and a 2" compression driver, and the CXi1812 double 18" bass bin.

London-based Decibel Audio has been working on a series of audio upgrades for Regent Inns plc. In Bar Logic, next to the London Palladium, Decibel has installed 20 JBL enclosures across the bar's two floors, with amplification from C Audio GB402s. Three GB402s drive the 12 loudspeakers in the upstairs bar, while the remainder downstairs are powered by a further two 402s. At Gordon Bennett's in Tooting, Decibel has again used three GB402s to drive JBL wall-mounted cabinets, along with a GB602 for Decibel's own bass bins.

For the fourth successive year, Britannia Row Productions has been engaged to carry out the audio production for the BRIT Awards, which moves to Earls Court 2 next week. Brit Row is continuing its association with sound designer Derek Zieba for the event. Chris Coxhead and Bob Lopez will be looking after the front-of-house sound, with Vince Sharpe and Andy Ray on monitors. Sound reinforcement will be drawn exclusively from Brit Row's Turbosound Flashlight inventory - the main system will consist of TFS-780 and 760 L-C-R clusters, with L-C-R delays and various audience and pit fills.

Tascam's new CD-RW700 is a cost-effective model based on the flagship CD-RW5000, and boasting some high quality features. These include 24-bit AD/DA convertor circuits which provide a significant improvement in sound quality, and improved dynamic range and signal-to-noise performance from the 16-bit CDR medium. The 2U rack-mounting unit also features adjustable digital gain control, on-board sample rate convertor, buffer RAM for instant start and sync start/record.

Denon has launched the latest in its Award-winning series of twin CD players for the club, leisure and entertainment markets. The new DN-2600F builds on the success of the DN-2500 player, and has been designed to offer maximum flexibility for DJs. An important new feature of the DN-2600F is its true linear shock-proof memory, by which the disc is spun at twice the normal speed allowing a RAM chip to write to its memory in advance of the reading head, minimising errors due to vibration. Other features include the ability to create two seamless loops per track or disk, copy facility for A-B seamless loop to the sampler, two hot starts per drive and Stutter Play function.

Mackie Designs has announced the appointment of John 'Bruno' Wayte as cinema product manager. Wayte has spent the last nine months with the Mackie-owned loudspeaker manufacturer RCF, where he worked on the development of cinema sound systems, successfully obtaining THX approval for two of RCF's CSS range of loudspeakers. Prior to RCF, Wayte was head of sound reinforcement at Arbiter plc. He commented: "I'm excited by the opportunity of combining the expertise of RCF transducers and Mackie's electronic ingenuity in becoming a force within the cinema and AV market."

Following the announcement at the end of 1999 that Trantec's UHF and VHF radio microphones are available to the export market for the first time, the company has announced the appointment of two European distributors. JBK Audio Pro will be representing the company exclusively in France, and Audio International, trading with its sister company Audium SRL, will be responsible for distribution in Italy. The two companies will begin trading immediately, and will be exhibiting at the AES Show in Paris and SIB in Rimini respectively.

Audio Design Services has introduced a Solid State Language Laboratory system that will provide great benefits for teaching, particularly in the field of language learning. After two years of close liaison with schools and colleges, the company has developed an enhanced memory Personal Computer System that enables hundreds of hours of lessons to be stored on the hard disk at the start of term. Any lesson can then be 'dragged' down to any student's workstation by using the mouse, and the student then has all the facilities offered by traditional audio cassettes. As lessons are downloaded individually, a single class can provide as many lessons as there are students, with each having the facility to record answers directly onto the hard disk for the teacher to download at the end of the lesson. The system, which is supplied with headphones and microphones and can be either fixed or portable, considerably reduces the time taken to prepare individual lessons.

In a move that marks an increased focus on professional commercial audio markets, Yamaha-Kemble Music UK has formed a separate department, headed up by Alan Johnson as sales and marketing manager. The new department, as part of Yamaha's pro-Music Division, will be separate from the current pro audio department and will concentrate on the areas of live sound, outside broadcast, installed sound systems, touring sound, professional recording, audio post production and broadcast applications. A number of initiatives are already in place, such as a dedicated dealer hotline which will resolve any technical and system enquiries. Also, to coincide with the UK launch of the PM1D digital live mixing console, a PM series support helpline has also been established, active from 9am to 11pm seven days a week.

As a result of Trantec's revision of its sales and marketing strategy worldwide (see today's Business News), Steve Bickford has been appointed to the newly-created role of export manager. These appointments mark a considerable milestone for Trantec, whose products have hitherto been confined to the UK only as a result of an exclusive licensing agreement overseas.

The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers is organising a two-day course covering Basic Acoustics for Sound System Professionals. This will take place on consecutive Saturdays - 18th and 25th March - in Manchester and will cover such diverse areas as how sound behaves, direct and reverberant sound fields, sound in large and small spaces and use of physical and computer models. The course fee (ISCE Members - £100, Non members - £130) includes the cost of written materials and attendance certificates.

Starlite Systems Technology (London) has announced its acquisition of data and intellectual property rights previously branded under the ShuttleCAD banner. The acquisition has spawned two new products into its family of industry-specific drawing software; Stardraw Audio and Stardraw AV. The data takes the form of thousands (approx. 12,000) high quality symbols of products by manufacturers active in the professional audio and A/V sectors. Starlite's Director of Software David Snipp explains: "In the past Starlite has provided the software engines that drove Stardraw and ShuttleCAD products, but the symbols we used were generally produced out of house. By bringing the manufacture of software and symbols under our control we can concentrate on development and let our distributors deal with the selling."

Paris-based loudspeaker manufacturer L-Acoustics has restructured its UK sales and rental activities. V-Dosc Rentals UK has been renamed L-Acoustics UK and will continue renting the V-Dosc and dV-Dosc systems. The major change is the incorporation into L-Acoustics UK of the sales and technical support for all L-Acoustics products, thereby focusing the two distinct business activities under one roof. All sales products will supplied direct from Paris, including the purchase of V-Dosc and dV-Dosc for permanent installations. L-Acoustics UK will be managed by Paul Nicholson, with responsibility for both sales and rental activities.

Marquee Audio has supplied a Soundcraft Series Five 56/32 monitor desk to accompany 'Riverdance - The Show' through its European tour. The sale came via Mikam Sound, the production's official sound contractors. The console was specified by Mick O'Gorman, the show's sound designer, to fulfil the company's growing needs, following a complete changeover to in-ear monitoring. He observed: "To pull off the change we had no choice but to get a bigger desk; there simply were not enough channels previously to satisfy the demand. We'd used the Series Five on the US tour and as it would accommodate our need entirely, there was no question of what we would opt for."