Carl May Building Audio System, Desert Hot Springs, CA
The Carl May Building is a multi-purpose meeting room for the City of Desert Hot Springs, California. It is primarily used for City Council and Commission meetings, but is also used for any large public meeting. The original specifications for this project was only an equipment list, taken from a previous contractors proposal. Edmondson Engineering analyzed this list, extracted a list of actual performance specifications and functional requirements, and then prepared a design bid 20% lower than the next lowest bidder. After negotiations with the city, the final cost of the system was 33% lower than their original budget. As a local company, we were able to provide support and flexibility that an out of town company could not provide.
Original System
The existing sound system in the Carl May was a hodge-podge of different Shure microphones, a couple of Shure SCM810 mixeres, a Radio Shack amplifier, some wireless microphones, and 8 Radio Shack ceiling speakers. There was also a feed to the local cable company for broadcasts of the City Council meetings. The system was infamous for the wireless microphones to malfunction during meetings, for being unable to hear either in the room, or on the broadcast, and for being ignored by the council members when it wasn't working.
New System Specifications
The published specifications were merely an equipment list of required equipment, as no one on the City Staff had any knowledge of audio systems. From this equipment list, the following list of required equipment functions was derived:
- 15 Wired Microphones - a single Shure MX418D microphone for each position on the council dais and staff tables
- 3 Shure SCM-810 Automatic Mixers to provide mixers for each wired and wireless microphone
- 3 Shure ULXP Wireless Microphones - Two wireless microphones to use for the speaker's podium, and a body pack microphone for presentations
- 2 Shure DFR22 Digital Signal Processors for automatic feedback reduction and control
- 24 JBL Control 24CT ceiling mounted speakers for sound reinforcement in the room
- 2 QSC transformer equiped amplifiers
- 1 Oxmoor RCA for volume control
- A Hearing Impaired System for ADA compliance
- Racks, cables and other equipment to connect everything.
Since we had attended many city council sessions, we realized that there were several other functions needed to be added.
- 6 additional wireless microphones for use during round table discussions
- 4 additional speakers for the rest rooms, kitchen and equipment room
- 2 Remote control panels to replace the Oxmoor RCA, which was no longer available