Maryland Sound Re-Elects HARMAN’s JBL Line Arrays for President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration

NORTHRIDGE, California – Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States for a second term on January 21, 2013 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. As it has since 1996, Maryland Sound provided the main PA system for the inauguration, relying on a combination of HARMAN’s JBL VTX and VERTEC® line arrays, Crown amplifiers and Soundcraft digital consoles to provide clear sound quality to the over 1,000,000 people in attendance. 

The ceremonial program, which included President Obama’s oath of office and his inaugural address, took place on the Capitol grounds, and also included music from the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and the fifth grade chorus from P.S. 22 on Staten Island. The program also featured performances by James Taylor (“America the Beautiful”), Kelly Clarkson (“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”) and Beyonce (“The Star-Spangled Banner”).

At the Capitol, Maryland Sound provided an assortment of JBL VP7315, VP7215, Control 25AV and AE Series AC28/95 loudspeakers. For the massive audience that filled the Capitol Grounds and National Mall, Maryland Sound deployed 12 of its custom-built line array towers, each featuring 16 VERTEC VT4889 fullsize line array elements. Crown ITHD12000 amplifiers powered the system.

The program culminated with the Inaugural Parade, following President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their families for 1.2 miles until they reached Lafayette Park. Maryland Sound supported the main parade route with nine loudspeaker towers, each ranging from 10 to 12 VERTEC VT4889 fullsize line array elements, powered by Crown ITHD12000 amplifiers, with Soundcraft Si Compact 24 digital consoles.

At Lafayette Park, Maryland Sound erected two towers each containing four hangs of eight JBL VTX V25 fullsize line array elements. Crown ITHD12000 amplifiers powered the audio, which was mixed with a Soundcraft Si Compact 24 digital console. 

Audio at the Presidential viewing stand outside the White House featured 25 JBL Control 25 loudspeakers, powered by Crown ITHD12000 amplifiers.

The entire system was configured using JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

“It is always an honor to provide the audio system for the Presidential Inauguration and the challenge is always to provide the best audio quality possible while giving consideration to the sightlines of the crowd at the Capitol and National Mall,” said Bob Goldstein, President of Maryland Sound. “As we always say, the audience matters, and never is that clearer than at the Inauguration. JBL’s VTX and VERTEC line arrays, along with Crown amplifiers and Soundcraft consoles, once again played a crucial role in making this event a success.”

For more information on Maryland Sound, please visit www.marylandsound.com

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 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2012.

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