NEWS
Community Celebrates 50 Years at 2018
INTERNATIONAL: Even as Community
Professional Loudspeakers celebrated its 50
years of offering innova ve loudspeaker
solu ons on the pla orm 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 applica ons. 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 rela vely easy to mould to
shape. We could make horns that were far
more accurate to mathema cal equa ons,
without the imperfec ons of wood, and with
far less weight.”
“At the me, touring systems were mainly
comprised of large folded bass horns,
topped with mul cellular 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 con nues to be
paramount in
everything we do.” Even
today, performance and
intelligibility con nue to
be Community's top
priori es. “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 cri cal informa on
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 documenta on, have
achieved an outstanding list of “firsts”,
par cularly in the areas of large-scale
systems, extreme all-weather capability and
solu ons for difficult acous c 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 ci es 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”
communica on from Community systems.
Steve Johnson joined Community as CEO in
- An experienced audio industry
veteran, Johnson brought substan al sales,
marke ng and commercial exper se to the
company. In 2014, Community unveiled an
updated corporate brand iden ty. The
design of the new symbol and logotype
suggests precision and elegance, two
important a ributes of their products and
engineering.
In 2015, Audioprof Group Interna onal
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
acquisi on, Community became a member
of their installed audio por olio along with
European-based Apart Audio.
What's up in 2018: Community begins 2018
with the European launch of its new IV
Modular Ver cal Array system at ISE. The
newest member of the highly successful I
SERIES family, IV6 is aesthe cally designed
for installed indoor or outdoor applica ons.
Incorpora ng physical- and acous c-shaping
tools that allow designers to tailor an array
to the needs of any venue, the IV6 Modular
Ver cal Array system provides uniform
coverage in short- or long-throw
applica ons. Community's exclusive Passive
Acous c Op miza on module within EASE®
Focus 3 quickly calculates the ideal passive
array parameters for each loudspeaker,
resul ng in unmatched SPL and frequency
response consistency throughout a listening
area without requiring addi onal amplifiers
or DSP channels.
“As we aspire to exceed the industry's
expecta ons and provide excep onal
customer service, we will
con nue 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
be er way to make
loudspeakers. I see the IV
with its unique array shaping
tools as proof that innova on
is alive and well at
Community and will con nue
to define Community long
into the future.”
http://www.communitypro.com
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