Systems Integration Asia – April-May 2018

(Wang) #1

NEWS


Community Celebrates 50 Years at 2018

INTERNATIONAL: Even as Community
Professional Loudspeakers celebrated its 50
years of offering innovave loudspeaker
soluons on the plaorm of ISE 2018, what
remained constant through all those years is
what really sets the company apart.
Founded by Bruce Howze in 1968 to develop
concert-worthy loudspeakers that were both
powerful and lightweight, Community is now
a worldwide leader in the design and
manufacture of professional loudspeakers
for installed applicaons. As the company
evolved its market focus from tour sound to
MI and now to install, Howze's technical
leadership has been the one constant
throughout.

About those early days, Howze recalls,
“everyone was making horns from wood,
sheet metal or cast iron. We thought
fiberglass would be an ideal material for
small runs. It was lightweight, strong,
portable and relavely easy to mould to
shape. We could make horns that were far
more accurate to mathemacal equaons,
without the imperfecons of wood, and with
far less weight.”
“At the me, touring systems were mainly
comprised of large folded bass horns,
topped with mulcellular high frequency
horns,” he explains. “There was nothing that
could do 500 Hz well, which le a big hole in
the midrange. Midrange is where voice
intelligibility lives, and to my mind is the
most important aspect of a loudspeaker – to
communicate. We focused on that midrange
right at the outset, and
it connues to be
paramount in
everything we do.” Even
today, performance and
intelligibility connue to
be Community's top
priories. “There's been
a trend among
loudspeaker
manufacturers to
overlook intelligibility in
favor of the 'wow' factor
of big bass,” Howze
observes. “That sort of
misses the point that all
the crical informaon
is in the midrange. If
you don't get that right,
the rest of it doesn't
mean a thing.”

Over the years, Community's developments
in horn designs, enclosures and transducers,
combined with detailed performance
measurement and documentaon, have
achieved an outstanding list of “firsts”,
parcularly in the areas of large-scale
systems, extreme all-weather capability and
soluons for difficult acousc environments.

The company's list of references is equally
impressive, from Elvis Presley touring with
Community's Leviathan in the '70s to public
address for the largest annual gathering of
mankind on earth in Mecca. Whole cies like
Venice rely on Community to provide audio
flood warning and, at countless Olympic and
world-class stadia, millions of people enjoy
their sport with “loud and clear”
communicaon from Community systems.

Steve Johnson joined Community as CEO in


  1. An experienced audio industry
    veteran, Johnson brought substanal sales,
    markeng and commercial experse to the
    company. In 2014, Community unveiled an
    updated corporate brand identy. The


design of the new symbol and logotype
suggests precision and elegance, two
important aributes of their products and
engineering.

In 2015, Audioprof Group Internaonal
acquired a majority share in Community,
strengthening the brand and ensuring its
future. Audioprof is a holding company
established to develop and build strong
audio companies with a focus on specific
niches in the audio industry. Through the
acquision, Community became a member
of their installed audio porolio along with
European-based Apart Audio.

What's up in 2018: Community begins 2018
with the European launch of its new IV
Modular Vercal Array system at ISE. The
newest member of the highly successful I
SERIES family, IV6 is aesthecally designed
for installed indoor or outdoor applicaons.
Incorporang physical- and acousc-shaping
tools that allow designers to tailor an array
to the needs of any venue, the IV6 Modular
Vercal Array system provides uniform
coverage in short- or long-throw
applicaons. Community's exclusive Passive
Acousc Opmizaon module within EASE®
Focus 3 quickly calculates the ideal passive
array parameters for each loudspeaker,
resulng in unmatched SPL and frequency
response consistency throughout a listening
area without requiring addional amplifiers
or DSP channels.
“As we aspire to exceed the industry's
expectaons and provide exceponal
customer service, we will
connue to innovate with
new products like the IV6,”
said Johnson. “Community
was founded by Bruce Howze
all those years ago because
he believed there had to be a
beer way to make
loudspeakers. I see the IV
with its unique array shaping
tools as proof that innovaon
is alive and well at
Community and will connue
to define Community long
into the future.”

http://www.communitypro.com

SI A
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