Event specialist IE Production Services, served 17 stages at this years Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon, each of which presented its own challenges in terms of sound reinforcement.
Having considered the options, IE Production Services looked to K-array and the Italian innovator’s exclusive UK representative, 2B Heard, for a broad range of solutions.
“With so many stages and performance formats, this was anything but a straightforward project,” explained Mark McComish, Project Manager at IE Production Services. “It’s a very high-profile event with a lot of media coverage, so it’s important to the city. From our perspective, it was vital that the speakers we used delivered high-quality audio but were also very easy and quick to rig. K-array was the perfect choice on both counts.”
K-array solutions could be heard from the beginning of the event to the end. Included was the compact but powerful Firenze KH7 digitally steered line array, 4 elements of which covered the starting line, split between 2 stacks positioned 80m apart with low-end support from two KS8 subwoofers.
“The KH7 is discreet, lightweight and very quick to rig but it’s still powerful enough to throw long distances, up to 100m, without feeling too loud for those nearest the stage, all of which meant it was ideal for the starting line,” said McComish.
Further along the course, the historic Town Hall Balcony was served by a Mugello KH2 compact line arrays comprising 2 KH2 per side. Chosen for its ability to deliver “seamless coverage and a long throw down the strip of oncoming athletes outside the Town Hall, while still remaining unobtrusive”, the KH2 set-up was augmented with 2 Mugello KS5 dual 21inch subs.
Elsewhere, a variety of smaller stages benefitted from seamless coverage courtesy of Pinnacle KR802 and KR202 column array systems as well as Axle KRX802 ground stacked line arrays. “The column arrays gave us even and consistent coverage while the IP rated options meant we were prepared for all types of weather,” McComish explained.
He concluded: “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is an exciting event for everyone who takes part, including ourselves. It’s important for our company and a powerful reference project for us so living up to everyone’s high expectations was of paramount importance to us. With the support, we received from 2B Heard and the breadth of the K-array range, we were able to design discreet yet powerful, high-quality sound reinforcement solutions for all of the stages. No matter the challenge, we had it covered with K-array.”
