Replacing an ageing cabling infrastructure, the new PA/VA installation sees TOA’s NX-100 form the basis of a system comprising 16 outstations spread across the site and making use of the client’s existing IT network infrastructure.
“Because the PA system has to be able to carry emergency messaging in the event of a gas or chemical leak, any new cabling would have needed to be specially contained and the client was quoted over _100,000 for a new network to be installed,” said PAS Sound Engineering’s managing director, Jeff Vaudrey (pictured). “Our approach obviated the need for this expenditure and gave the client the opportunity to upgrade the audio network – to cover the addition of a temporary new building, for example – quickly and easily.”
Working under the auspices of one of the site’s instrument design engineers, Julian Thomas, PAS built and delivered 16 new PA racks in four weeks. Each rack comprises an NX-100 network adapter along with TOA VM-2000 power amplifiers and VX-2000 battery chargers. The installation took place over a single weekend.
“Both PAS and TOA were found to be flexible and responsive to our needs,” said Thomas. “Everything was delivered and installed according to schedule, and disruption to site operations was minimal. The fact that emergency audio can now be distributed reliably over such a large site, without investing in a new, dedicated infrastructure, has saved significant amounts of money.”
TOA Europe’s sales & marketing director, Brett Downing, commented: “We have had tremendous success with the NX-100 since it was launched a few years back, and this PAS installation is a perfect example of why. Whenever audio signals need to be distributed to and from multiple remote locations, the system’s ability to use existing LAN, WAN or IP networks can save the end customer huge amounts of time and money. And, because it does not require its own cable infrastructure, the NX-100 is environmentally friendly, too!”
