 |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
|
IMAGES
|
Meyer Sound Australia
In September 1996 business partners Harley Richardson and Steve Devine began discussions with Meyer Sound about becoming its Australian agent, believing that Meyer would be the best solution for government clients that had requirements for high quality audio systems. The timing was perfect; having investigated the size of the Australian market, Meyer Sound was actively seeking someone to set up Meyer Sound Australia as a sales and service outlet. Richardson and Devine were then a two-man operation with a combined experience of 40 years in the entertainment industry, concentrating on professional audio, video and lighting sales and installations. They had no other direct import brands, and observing that Meyer products were mainly being bought to rent out rather than to resell, spotted an opportunity to grow Meyer Sound's market. Since Meyer Sound Australia (MSA) was established in 1997, Richardson and Devine have experienced a growing demand for Meyer product and technical support. "Since we first set down sales targets in October 1997 we have had to revise these figures many times," says Richardson. "People can purchase Meyer product in Australia and New Zealand with confidence, as Meyer Sound Australia carries good stocks of both new product and spare parts to satisfy customer's requirements." MSA provides full factory services, including system design, technical and customer support. It honors worldwide Meyer Sound warranties, allowing touring operators to obtain parts and service locally - regardless of where they made their initial purchase. Due to the geographical spread of the country, Australia is a unique market. Occupying approximately 75% of the land area of the United States, the country has a population of just under 20 million people, with the three major population centers of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne housing over half the population. The other major cities are Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. "It takes a week to ship equipment by road from Sydney to Perth," says Richardson. "Consequently we deal with large distances and a relatively small, but quality, market. Pro audio isn't that big a market anywhere in the world, and when you break it down into territories, it's easy to set up a database of every potential purchaser of high-end professional audio systems. We've identified our market and we can target it directly." Both partners spend a lot of time on the road. "One of us is normally interstate once a week," says Richardson. "Most of our work is in Sydney or Melbourne, although we get a lot of work in Brisbane because that's where we're based." Sales to the other centers are rapidly coming up to speed, and are strong in all capital cities, particularly in the theater and A/V markets. "The key to our success with Meyer Sound Australia is the same as any business," continues Richardson. "We aim to provide the best possible service to our customers. We travel continuously, keeping in contact with existing and new customers all over the country. We don't believe it is just enough to sell boxes to a customer and move onto the next sale. The more work we find our customers, the more product they will buy. We utilize the resources available from the head office in Berkeley to assist our customers any way we can. Service is everything. That, together with a world class product, is a winning combination." Some prestigious MSA installations MSA has provided the Victorian Arts Centre with one of Australia's largest permanent theater system installations in its Melbourne Concert Hall. Totalling more than 35 self-powered loudspeakers, the system was designed by US-based sound designer Roger Gans. The 2,600-seat hall's new system comprises a center cluster of three MSL-4 Horn-Loaded Long-Throw loudspeakers over two CQ-1 Wide Coverage Main loudspeakers with a UPA-1P Compact Wide Coverage loudspeaker and UPA-2P Compact Narrow Coverage loudspeaker on either side. Balcony down fills consist of a left-center-right configuration of CQ-2 Narrow Coverage Main loudspeakers over DS-4P Horn-Loaded Mid-Bass loudspeakers for the left and right and a CQ-1 over a DS-4P for the center down fill. There are also twenty-four UPM-1P Ultra-Compact Wide Coverage loudspeakers as under balcony fills, a PSW-6 High-Power Cardioid subwoofer per side, located above the stage, and a left and right array of two DS-4Ps, four MSL-4s and a CQ-1 flown over two PSW-6s.
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre has recently bought ninety-six more Meyer Sound loudspeakers. With four venues and over 700 acts a year, the QPAC finds that Meyer Sound has provided them with a versatile, dependable and consistent system. Set in the Southbank Parklands near the Brisbane city center, QPAC has bought CQ-2s, CQ-1s, UPAs and UPMs as a basic system for the its 2,000 seat Lyric Theatre. MSL-4s, PSW-2 High-Power Flyable subwoofers, CQ-2s, UPAs, UMs and UPMs form a standalone system in the 1,800-seat Concert Hall. The 850-seat Optus Playhouse has been installed with UPAs, UMs, UPMs and USW-1P Compact subwoofers, with UPAs and UMs for the 335-seat Cremorne Theatre. The sound design and installation for each venue was carried out by QPAC's audio team. "We deal with a lot of international and national companies," said events manager Keith Burrows. "As soon as they hear the word Meyer, they're at ease." Adds audio/visual manager John Kelly. "When someone specifies a UPA-1P, they know it will sound the same in Brisbane as in Stuttgart or LA. With speaker systems that aren't self-powered, if someone uses a different sort of amplifier, or different sort of processor, it's going to sound different." MSA has also provided a sound system to Australia's best-known venue, the Sydney Opera House. The SOH purchased a mobile concert system that can be configured as one large or several smaller systems for the studio, drama theater, playhouse, or outside. It consists of eight MSL-4s, eight UPA-1Ps, eight PSW-2s, four CQ-1s and two CQ-2s, six UPM-1Ps and four UM-1P Narrow Coverage Stage Monitors. "Meyer didn't just sell us the loudspeaker, they sold us some intelligence as well," says SOH's sound and AV coordinator David Claringbold. "Four of our sound technicians were put through the SIM System II FFT Analyzer course. That brought an understanding, not just about Meyer loudspeakers but about all loudspeakers and systems and the way they work. It was a good investment." Meyer Sound Australia Pty. Ltd. July, 2004 |
FEATURED PRODUCTS |
|
|
Contact
Us | Terms of Use | Trademarks |
"I can't imagine using amplifiers and cable runs here," said John O'Donnell, head of the sound department at the Victorian Arts Centre when the system was installed. "There's no space for an amp room and it would be difficult running cable. There's poured concrete and the access just isn't there. The design also takes advantage of the Meyer loudspeakers' tight coverage patterns: they can be flown without exciting other parts of the hall."