VOLVO CUP WELCOME CONCERT IN AUCKLAND, NZ FEATURES JBL HLA SYSTEM

The Volvo Cup Yacht Race was welcomed to its third stop in Auckland, New Zealand with an eight-hour concert featuring JBL Professional HLA speakers. The nine-month race began in September 2001 and will visit 10 ports by its conclusion in June 2002. Yacht crews are sure to remember the Auckland welcome celebration on January 5th, 2002 at the Viaduct Harbor, given the fact that about 100,000 people attended the free concert featuring top New Zealand acts Dave Dobbyn, Che fu, the Mutton Birds, Stellar and Greg Johnson.

The concert stage was built on a barge located off the eastern viaduct to provide the widest possible viewing. College Hill Productions of Auckland provided sound for the huge concert. A Demag 200 ton crane was used to suspend JBL HLA speakers above the floating stage in a 200-degree horizontal coverage pattern. Eighteen HLA 4895 three-way boxes were flown in a mono array along with ten HLA 4897 subwoofers on the barge. To further maximize sound opportunities, 16 JBL Control 28T high output indoor/outdoor speakers were used as delay rings around the viaduct.

"The concert was a great success," said Chris Tate of College Hill Productions. "The clarity and projection of JBL's HLA system made it a perfect solution for this challenging application. HLA is the easiest-to-rig, most indestructible, loud, clean, distortion-free P.A. available."

Headquartered in Northridge, California, JBL Professional is the world's leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of professional loudspeakers for recording and broadcast, musician, cinema, touring sound, commercial sound and contracting applications. JBL Professional is part of the Harman International network of professional and consumer audio companies. For complete product and company information, go to the JBL Pro website at www.jblpro.com.

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