WAIKIKI SHELL’S 18-YEAR-OLD UPA
A TESTAMENT TO MEYER SOUND SYSTEM LONGEVITY
“THEY WERE OUTSIDE THROUGH THE HURRICANE AND NUMEROUS TROPICAL STORMS. THE SHELL OPERATES YEAR ROUND, SO THEY ARE CONSTANTLY
EXPOSED TO HUMIDITY AND SALT AIR. WE’VE USED
THEM FOR EVERY SHOW, AND WE’VE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH THEM.”
— JOHN FUHRMANN
EVENT SERVICES MANAGER
CITY OF HONOLULU’S DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISE SERVICES
IN 1991, BAUS ENGINEERING installed eight Meyer Sound UPA-1A loudspeakers at the Waikiki Shell, sitting atop poles night and day as permanent lawn delays for the popular Honolulu outdoor venue. For 18 years, these UPA-1A loudspeakers have braved some of Hawaii’s most treacherous weather conditions, including the Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and are still performing like the first day they were installed.
The UPA-1A loudspeakers were recently brought back to BAUS Engineering for up- grading the drivers to the newer Berkeley- built compression drivers as found in the self-powered UPA-1P. Signal processing and delay was now provided by a new Galileo loudspeaker management system.
“These UPAs testify to the quality and reliability of Meyer Sound products,” states Randy Bauske, owner of BAUS Engineering. “Eight speakers times 18 years makes 144 total operating years, working thousands of shows, with no fail- ures due to weather exposure.”
Bauske confesses that even he was somewhat surprised by the loudspeak- ers’ longevity. “I was expecting the norm of 10 to 12 years,” he says. “But the stain- less steel hardware prevented corrosion, and the cabinets were totally protected so there was no damage at all to the wood.” He was also pleased to discover that all the parts he needed were still available. “After 18 years, the UPAs were far from obsolete. Meyer has made improvements, but the design never went out of date. That is truly extraordinary in this industry.”
Seeing the performance and durability of the UPA delays, the venue made an easy decision to replace the house sys- tem mounted at the shell with two Meyer Sound MVC-5 graduated vertical cover- age loudspeakers to cover all front seating areas for school and community events.
“Clarity and coverage are critical for this type of venue, and the new Meyer system will be much better for events we have here,” says Fuhrmann. “For example, we just had graduation ceremonies for an elite private college. Parents paid a lot of money for the privilege of being there, and they wanted to hear everything clearly.”
8 | 2010 | VOLUME 1 | MEYER SOUND STORIES
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