Pope Benedict XVI benefits from EAW speakers
Published: WORSHIP
SPAIN: Production sound company Focus, based in Barcelona, recently provided a large EAW speaker system for tens of thousands of people attending an outside address by Pope Benedict XVI. The event was to consecrate the Barcelona’s famous La Sagrada Familia church, designed by the city’s most celebrated architect Antoni Gaudi.
The system included 150 KF730 Compact Line Array Modules plus dozens of other EAW speakers, powered by Lab.gruppen amplification with speaker management by EAW UX8800 and Lake LM 26 digital signal processors. The gathering took place in Plaza Gaudí and throughout the streets in the surrounding area.
The other EAW speakers deployed at the Plaza Gaudí included 24 KF760 Long-Throw Line Array Modules, eight KF730 Compact Line Array Modules, eight KF650 Compact Array Loudspeakers and four KF750 High Output Array Loudspeakers, all under the control of four UX8800 Digital Signal Processors. For additional coverage, including delays, Focus provided 24 KF760, 24 KF750, 28 KF650 and 68 JFX260i Compact Full-Range Loudspeakers, all managed by 21 UX8800 processors.
‘The major challenge when we were appointed to supply an outdoor sound system at the Sagrada Familia for this event was that we had to provide coverage for around 60,000 people,’ said Pepe Ferrer of Focus SA. ‘Right from the start we saw that the best solution was without doubt the EAW KF Series.’
The sheer size of the crowd necessitated a range of different solutions as the numbers spilled into the neighbourhood. ‘People were located in different streets close to the Sagrada Familia,’ continued Mr Ferrer, ‘which forced us to create a different system for each location. Most of the streets had a system composed of eight KF730 modules, assuring a coverage area of 80m. We installed three arrays, each of eight KF760s, in front of the Sagrada Familia itself. We then completed the system with KF750s for the delay and KF650 and JFX260i units to cover the rest of audience.’
Mr Ferrer concluded that Focus had certainly made the right decisions for this remarkable occasion. ‘Thanks to the fantastic team and the awesome advantages of the KF Series from easy set up to quality, everything was a great success,’ he said. Both EAW and Lab.gruppen products were supplied to Focus by locally based distributor Pro3 & Co.