 Here at Lambda we custom build systems that meet our client’s space and fit what they are trying to accomplish for the long term. One of our long-time clients, First Presbyterian Church in Salida came to us, asking about a new audio system. Their old system was a set of hanging powered speakers and an over 10 year old soundboard. We wanted to design a system that would be able to provide even coverage, high intelligibility, and was cost effective and able to fit into their budget. Our favorite speaker manufacturer, Danley Sound Labs, recently released some new speaker offerings including the SH-110. The SH-110 is a 2-way, passive loudspeaker with 2 x 8″ low-frequency drivers and a 1.4″ exit high frequency compression driver, all mounted within a single 110° x 60° horn. After building a CAD of the room in Salida and modeling the room in Danley’s software, we chose the SH110 paired with a set of Danley Cubes and subwoofer, the THMini.
 As a student, a teacher, and now an AV professional working in schools, I have used many school AV systems. These systems typically were installed when the schools were built and lasted 15 or more years, untouched and unmaintained, before failing or exhibiting some signs of ending their functional lives. School budgets are tight and can’t be used to refresh a major room audio-visual system every five years. Lasting reliability is how we approached a new AV system in the natatorium for Pine Creek High School in District 20. The primary requirement, and place we started, was audio coverage. First, all speakers needed to be weather-tight with sealed connections for the highly corrosive pool environment. Second, school pool is a highly reverberant and ample open space. The sound echoes a lot, and by the time you add cheering parents, it can be a nightmare to hear what’s going on clearly. To address the clarity issue, we used higher-power speakers to get audio above room noise-level. We added more speakers to ensure each audience area around the pool had direct coverage rather than reflected coverage.
 It truly is a great feeling when the time comes for the first event for one of our customers after an install. It is the culmination of weeks, months, and sometimes even years of planning and work; not just for Lambda, but for the group themselves.  Cross and Crown Church has worked with us for many years now and has been faithfully planning, saving, and dreaming about what this day might look like. On January 1st, 2023, we got to see that vision come to life. A well finished project is what we got to see for Cross and Crown (C&C). It is our firm belief that technology should not distract and should instead contribute to upholding the primary mission of the organization and its events. With C&C we got to see some serious fun and excitement as the church settled in to their first Sunday and look forward to future day to day events. Let’s look at how this build came together and how it fit C&C and their vision for the future. In building C&C design, technology selection was a key piece. The church had communicated a desire for new systems and flexibility but did not want a system that felt overbearing and in need of skilled operators or one that was over the top in look and feel. They didn’t want a system that would take over the look of the church but blended with them. In each request, we were careful to select technology that would uphold these goals.
 When the US Air Force Academy Hockey and Basketball games were picked up for broadcasting to cable tv, they knew they had to up their audio game and called Lambda AV. AFA hockey and basketball have been historically fun attractions for those local to the Colorado Springs area and with the success of the Avalanche in the Stanley cup even more attention was gained by local teams. Altitude Sports wanted to pick them up for distribution and while Adam and Brian at AFA had all the video gear needed to broadcast, they were lacking proper audio.
 The phone began to ring and when I, Ryan, looked the caller ID read WJFW-TV in Rhinelander Wisconsin. I assumed it would be a scam call but answered anyway. On the other end, Marty and Walt from WJFW-TV were calling to discuss a previous article we wrote on an early PTZ camera design. The system they owned was a similar version to what we wrote about many years ago. When they saw how much we liked the system, they wanted to ask how we got it to work so well. I laughed, “We didn’t!"
 Just a few weeks ago Lambda started a full AV install on a new building project! Over the last year we have worked to build designs, CAD, procure equipment, and test and program it all to work together in our design. Finally, all the behind-the-scenes work is done, and the install is in full swing! So, what are the first steps for Lambda when we come on a new site?
When I (Ryan) was in high school, I took a series of courses from D20 as part of their tech pathway. These courses were all about becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate. These classes offered basic understanding of how to setup, design, and configure computer networks. Fast forward to post college with a degree in Broadcast Video Production that I never thought I would use, but today basically all our Audio, Video, and Lighting systems use networks and use them in advanced ways.
When it comes to networking today, the simple “dumb” switches, or switches straight out of the box, simply aren’t enough for demanding, time critical, AVL (Audio, Video, Lighting) events and systems. So much data is moving around in these systems that it is absolutely critical to have switches configured correctly for the protocol or service being used. In this case, Dante audio requires large loads of audio specific timing and multicast settings to make sure audio is delivered on time and the clock is never dropped.
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AuthorsAll of the Lambda Staff contribute to the Blog. If you have any questions about the info we provide, please don't hesitate to ask! ResourcesCheck out our resources page for FREE checklists and tools we mention in articles! We are here to help you improve and maintain your Audio Visual Systems!
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