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The first four instalments of Nissan's pan-European Qashqai Urban Challenge took place throughout May, with the final held in Paris at the end of June, with the city centres of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Milan, Madrid, Cologne and Paris witnessing some of the world's best mountain bike free-riders being tested to the limit on outdoor, custom-made courses in front of enthusiastic crowds.
The concept and tour was organised by STREAM\ with the Cologne event production masterminded by Dietmar Koch of German agency Braintrust Event Marketing. He chose long-time Turbosound users, Westphalia-based BLL / CE Veranstaltungstechnik-Krefeld to provide sound, lighting and electrical installations for the Cologne event, which gave the opportunity for a range of Turbosound's new NuQ loudspeakers to be put through their paces in a challenging environment.
With a large site and crowd to cover, the sound installation was complex. Three primary audio sources covered the event's live compére / commentator, interviews with the free riding stars and a DJ who provided music to accompany the riders as they performed their spectacular manoeuvres.
The inputs were fed via a matrix mixer to 16 loudspeaker outputs, from which an impressive Turbosound inventory of four NuQ-8, four NuQ-12, and two NuQ-15 two-way enclosures; two B15 subs; four QLight™ TQ-308, and two TQ-445DP, plus eight Aspect® TA-880H mid-highs and six TSW-718 subs broadcast the sound to the assembled crowds.
The main audience area was covered by the NuQ enclosures, with an additional NuQ-12 used as a wedge monitor for the DJ and the competition's judges. The VIP, catering and riders' lounge areas were covered by the QLight™ speakers, while the relay for two large LED screens featured Aspect TA-880Hs and NuQ-15s respectively, both featuring TSW-718 subs.
"I used the Aspect loudspeakers for one of the screens because there was a much bigger space for people to watch it, the nearest building being 60 metres away," says Carsten Eichstädt. "However, the nearest building to the second screen was only 15 metres away, so we needed a loudspeaker that wouldn't cause unwanted reflections. The NuQ-15s were perfect for that area."
Carsten reports that the system performed flawlessly and he was extremely happy with the combination of power, clarity and small size that the NuQs offer.
"I am very pleased with the NuQ cabinets," he says. "The sound was powerful enough for those watching the event, but they could see everything because of the small size of the enclosures.
"They also dovetailed seamlessly with the other Turbosound loudspeakers," he continues. "I was able to connect all the units in one zone with only one signal cable. The organisers were very pleased with the system."
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