TUT Ga-Rankuwa install Martin Audio, Allen & Heath and AKG at their new Campus.

The Audiosure team together with Robert and Paul from Sound Xperience. installed a compact Martin Audio Line Array system with an Allen & Heath SQ Digital Mixing system and AKG Microphones at the newly built hall at the Ga-Rankuwa campus of the Tshwane University of Technology. The system is designed to be used for Graduation Ceremonies and events at the hall and is focused more on Public Address than music playback.  That said, the Audiosure team made sure that there was plenty of power on tap if music entertainment is needed in the future.

A fully spec’ed Martin Audio Line Array is installed in the hall consisting of 6 x  WPM boxes per side and 2 x  SX218 Double 18” Bassbins flown from anchor points in the wall. The WPM boxes have dual 6.5” LF drivers inside with three 1.4” aluminium dome HF drivers that together deliver 100 degrees of horizontal coverage with 10 degrees of vertical with a peak SPL of 130db to cover the venue. Two passive Blackline X12’s are positioned on the front of the stage as front fills and a single Blackline X12 Powered is set up as an on-stage monitor. At the rear of the venue 2 x CDD12’s are pole mounted and dropped from the high ceiling to cover the upper balcony seating area and a further 3 x CDD8’s are mounted underneath the balcony. All the CDD’s are yoke mounted and have their horns rotated to deliver a wider cone of coverage to the challenging areas.

The entire rig is driven by three of Martin Audio’s IK42 Dante enabled amps which provide 20,000W of power per amp across four output channels and a Martin Audio ASF14020 8-port network switch connects all three amps to the network.

All of the 60,000W of audio power is harnessed, controlled and mixed with an Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer at the Front of House, connected to two AB168 stage boxes via CAT5 cable. The primary AB168 is located upstairs in the control room above the stage where it is in close proximity to the Wireless Microphones and IK Digital Amplifiers. The secondary AB168 is positioned at the back of the stage for localized inputs and outputs. To translate the experience to the engineers and operators, the enclosed Front of House space has a pair of Samson Audio Resolve SE8’s studio monitors for accurate mixing inside the booth and a Denon DN-900R Dante Enabled Digital Recorder. A Samson Q7X Handheld Mic allows for talkback.

Chauvet Pro and Eve Fixtures are installed on the 3 lighting bars in the Hall.  The front bar has 16 x EVE P140VW Variable White’s and 4 x EVE P130RGB with Barndoors and the bar on the back of the stage has 6 x P130RGB’s. All of the lights are routed to the Chauvet Pro Net X II DMX distributor and are controlled by a Chamsys QuickQ20 which offers touch screen control over functions like dimming and LED color mixing. The QuickQ20 also has built in Wi-Fi allowing the Lighting Operator to control the features from an Android or iOS device remotely.

Four channels of Wireless were needed for the venue. The top of the range AKG WMS470 Wireless systems were selected comprising 2 x  Handheld Transmitters featuring, the legendary AKG D5 capsule, and 2 x Instrument Sets, one with a CK99L Lapel Microphone and the other with a C555L Headset system. The wireless systems range are augmented with the APS4 Antennae Extender which extends the scope of all four channels with two SRA2 E/W Antennae mounted above the stage, one behind the proscenium and one in front of it, to facilitate usage on stage or moving into the center of the venue. The stage also features two Samson Audio CM20P Gooseneck Podium Mics fixed to the front of the stage.