On Stage Audio Revs Up Kawasaki Dealer Meeting With AVB + Harman HiQnet™

Simplicity and absolute reliability met when systems integration company On Stage Audio (OSA) deployed the IEEE 802.1 AVB Bridging protocol at the annual Kawasaki dealer meeting this September. With 2,500 Kawasaki dealers from across the United States at the Las Vegas Hilton’s convention center, the gathering required a full-range audio delivery system for any combination of music and speech. The AVB-compliant system from Harman Professional, a leader in the AVB initiative, assured one of the world’s most iconic motorcycle brand’s message would be heard loud and clear.

The AVB system deployed by the OSA team, led by Jim Risgin, OSA vice president, consisted of a pair of dbx SC 32 Digital Matrix Processors and 24 AVB-capable Crown CTs 3000 amplifiers. The system also included network bridge switches from BSS Audio/NETGEAR®, all under the control of Harman HiQnet System Architect™, the world's first connectivity and control protocol to integrate all product categories in the signal chain for professional sound systems of all types, sizes and applications.

“The network ran AVB transport and distribution from the SC 32 to the amplifiers, flawlessly,” said Risgin. “The project was done entirely within a pure AVB signal chain and that’s becoming the case for many of our projects now.” Risgin notes that despite the short amount of preparation time before the event, very little was actually needed, thanks to the fact that HiQnet System Architect allows systems designers to map out the entire AVB sound system in an intuitive graphical software environment. “After the components are in their racks, all we need to do is apply the design by dragging and dropping the icons for each component,” continued Risgin. “With the virtual design, we can select every piece of equipment with accuracy and we have the ability to do all of the patching off-site.”

Risgin, who was an early and active contributor to the AVB industry-wide initiative, was working with the latest iteration of HiQnet System Architect, the soon-to-be-announced version 2.3, which he says adds even more streamlined features to HiQnet System Architect and behind-the-scenes further enhances the implementation of the AVB protocol.

“We were able to set up and run 15 audio streams to the amplifiers for this event. They not only performed perfectly in terms of control, but also sounded just as good as analog,” said Risgin. “The best thing you can ever say about a piece of technology is that it just works and that’s what we can say about AVB. It just works, all the time, every time.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.2 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

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For additional information, contact:
Daniel O’Connell
Definition Branding & Marketing
Daniel.oconnell@definitionbam.com
(212) 660 2555-Ext. 12

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