PA Systems News from RealSound

The Big Freeze

2010-01-13T07:23:00.002Z

And so it continues... Personally, I've had enough of this weather and I'm sure that everyone else has too! These conditions are also causing havoc with our business. Equipment is constantly arriving late by hours and sometimes days. Schools have been closed which has caused delays in some of our installation projects. Staff at some of our supply companies are either not getting to work or they're leaving early. Not good. However, we would like to thank all of our clients for their patience and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Wolverhampton City Council Portable PA System Supply Contract

2009-12-05T12:47:00.004Z

It's now official! We have been awarded the 2 year contract to supply Mipro wireless portable PA systems plus the full range of portable PA accessories to schools, colleges, leisure centres and care facilities across the entire area covered by Wolverhampton City Council. Beating off 20 other companies who also bid for the tender, the first batch of 74 units has been delivered with another 74 due for shipment by the end of this year. We then look forward to further orders throughout 2010!

Our New Recruit

2009-11-08T07:27:00.001Z

I am pleased to announce that Joanne Smith will be joining our busy team on Monday 9th November. As our office based Sales and Marketing Co-Coordinator, she will be involved in a wide range of activities within the business. I would like to wish her good luck and great success in her new role.

David Nibbs
Managing Director

Portable PA System Accessories

2009-10-24T11:27:00.005+01:00

A welcome trend I have noticed over recent weeks is that our customers are regularly adding accessories to their orders when buying wireless portable PA systems from us. These include tripod floor stands, protective covers, extra microphones and extension speakers. I can actually state that, over the past month, every single wireless portable PA system has been despatched with accessories of some kind. This might be because we actively promote these handy extras or, nowadays, our customers want to get maximum value, performance and flexibility out of their sound systems. Either way, it's good business for us!

David Nibbs

Managing Director

‘We Will Rock You’ rocks at ‘The Tunnels’!

2009-10-20T10:18:00.001+01:00

The touring cast of the hit musical We Will Rock You held an after show party gig at live music venue The Tunnels in Bristol on 14th October in aid of charity for the local St Peters Hospice. Performing a wide range of pop, blues and rock 'n' roll classics (but no Queen numbers for a change!), all the lead performers / singers, the support cast and their backing band took part and a great evening was had by all!

The sound system, designed, supplied and installed by RealSound certainly stood up to the demands of this great team of professional performers.

The musical itself is live on stage at the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 31st October '09. Future dates are: Edinburgh Playhouse from 4th November to 9th January and The O2, Dublin from 20th January to 31st January.

David Nibbs
Managing Director

Blogging in the USA, Part 2

2009-10-14T08:58:00.001+01:00

Last time, I commented on the excellent standard of background music speakers and sound systems in commercial premises here in the USA. I can now additionally report on digital signage systems. It is evident that, over here, the use of plasma screens and LCD screens for retail advertising is far more established and integrated with the design of the premises. It’s obviously a more mature market which also means that the advertising content appears, to me, to be far more effective and to the point. – Much like American advertising in general! In contrast, back in the UK, digital signage is still an emerging market and an advertising concept which is still regarded with scepticism by many. Additionally, much UK advertising content appears to be trying too hard in an ‘art for art’s sake’ kind of way. If employed correctly, digital signage can easily and directly broadcast any sales or promotional message in a straightforward and very effective way.

David Nibbs
Managing Director

Blogging In The USA!

2009-10-08T09:02:00.001+01:00

I'm currently over on the West Coast, travelling from Vancouver in Canada down to Los Angeles, via San Francisco. Although officially on holiday, in our business you're never totally off duty as technology surrounds you at every turn. And here's a professional observation I've recently made (again) whilst over here…

Americans recognise quality sound and sound systems. Unlike many UK based equivalents, background music and midground music systems in restaurants, bars, hotels and leisure facilities always feature premium brand loudspeakers and amplification including JBL, Community, EAW, Bose, EV, Klipsch, Boston, Crown, QSC, etc.

Good quality music is always regarded as an intrinsic element of the 'customer experience' and I have recognised this fact ever since my first visit to the USA in 1990.

Back in the UK, RealSound will continue its 'crusade' to get many more of our own clients to recognise that cheap music systems are just a short term, false economy. We hope to educate, advise and encourage business owners towards higher quality, higher performance sound systems - and, for once, copy something American that's really worth copying!

David

The Mediterranean Industrial Summer Holiday

2009-09-29T12:24:00.000+01:00

I don’t know how it is in other industries but in the pro audio and lighting market, here in the UK we always have to plan for our Italian and Spanish colleagues’ summer holidays!

Manufacturers in both countries indulge in their annual one month shut down for the whole of August. They all disappear to (other) sunny climes and leave us poor old Northern Europeans without access to equipment, spare parts or technical services.

I appreciate that this is a long standing tradition for such countries but, in this age of global trading, wouldn’t it be to everyone’s advantage and benefit for them to at least have a scaled down manufacturing and despatch service for the rest of us? Business normally slows down in the UK during August but it never stops dead. Attempting to create our own stockpile of products in July is often not financially viable and putting our clients off until September for their required deliveries is also not very impressive.

I deal with one Italian manufacturer which has a warehouse and despatch facility in Germany. – Now there’s a result!

David

It’s September Show Time Again

2009-09-21T10:52:00.000+01:00

I recently spent two days at the PLASA show in Earls Court 1 and 2, London. Billed as the premier worldwide professional sound and lighting exhibition, it is claimed that there were over 300 exhibitors this year.

I’ve been to this event every year since 1975 and seen an enormous change in the style of the show over that time. This year, I felt that the show had lost its ‘sparkle’ and ‘fizz’. This was starting to happen in 2008 but was certainly evident a year later.

Whilst there were certainly some impressive stands from the ‘big players’, there was a notable absence of many of the industry leaders including at least three of the world’s top brand loudspeaker manufacturers. I also noted that the mobile DJ suppliers had all but evaporated with only a handful of suppliers making the effort to exhibit. Broad based UK distributors were also very few in number. ‘Word on the street’ was that a lot of this was down to the extortionate prices the organisers – PLASA Events – are now demanding for stand space and ancillary services. Many companies just couldn’t quantify the enormous investment to be there.

In terms of visitor attendance, it seemed a lot quieter in this aspect too. There was no frenetic energy or buzz. The whole thing just seems very steady and unremarkable.

If PLASA (the Professional Light and Sound Association) wants to ensure that their show remains as the self-proclaimed premier industry exhibition, they certainly need to entice a wider range and quantity of manufactures back to the show who offer the most relevant products in order to provide us, the trade customers, with an event which truly reflects all aspects and levels of our diverse industry.

David

The Tunnels at Bristol

2009-09-18T09:35:00.001+01:00

Located beneath Temple Meads station in the centre of Bristol, The Tunnels is the city’s latest and hottest music venue – and it goes live tonight – Friday 18th September!

To cater for the forthcoming wide range of visiting bands, musicians and entertainers, RealSound has supplied and installed the entire sound system featuring Community house PA speakers, JBL stage monitors, QSC amplification, a 32 channel Soundcraft mixing desk, Shure and Audio Technica microphones plus audio processors from Lexicon, DBX, Kramer and Behringer.

We have also provided the stage lighting rig comprising of 24kW of Parcans plus back of stage Geni LED blinders and Geni ‘intelligent moving head’ fittings. The lighting system is powered by Zero 88 dimmer packs and a Zero 88 DMX control desk.

I would like to thank the venue’s owner, Gareth Chilcott, for awarding us the contract and personally wish him great success for the future with The Tunnels at Bristol.

David

RealSound vs. The Recession

2009-09-18T09:11:00.001+01:00

We’ve just had our busiest August - ever! Over the many years I’ve been in this industry, August has reliably and relentlessly been the worst month for business. Half the civilised world seem to go on holiday and general interest in anything pro audio, AV or lighting is decidedly minimal!

This year, the recession hit us in March, April, May and June with a continued flow of requests for site surveys, system designs and quotations across all aspects of business, commercial leisure and education for sound system installations and portable PA systems. However, precious few actually spent the cash in case of… what?

But suddenly, come July and August, things suddenly started happening again – almost as frenetic activity to make up for those ‘lost’ months! And enquiries continue to flow in steadily during this month too. On a personal viewpoint, it would appear that potential clients had the money in previous months but may have been dissuaded from making capital purchases by the influence of the media as to what might happen to us all! The world did not end and, although we’re all a long way from getting back on track, for my company the signs are good ones.

David

Welcome to the RealSound Blog

2009-09-16T09:07:00.001+01:00

Over the coming weeks we will post news here relating to the wide range of Public Address (PA) Systems, Portable PA, Background Music, Professional Sound, Lighting and Audio Visual Installations.