The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, held from August 15th – 23rd, 2009 in Berlin, was one of the major sporting events of the year. With half a million spectators and nine medals this year for the hosts, Germany had plenty of reasons to celebrate. TSE AG, Berlin, was responsible for the audio production and relied on equipment from Electro-Voice.

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin provided – as the event does every year – some of the most memorable sporting moments of 2009. Approximately 1,800 athletes fiercely competed in 24 different events for a shot at one of 47 world titles, providing tremendous entertainment for the spectators. Some 500,000 spectators in all witnessed history in person, including the incredible world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100 meters turned in by Usain Bolt. The great atmosphere in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium was created with help of an installed sound system from Electro-Voice. The production for the event, which was followed worldwide, was handled by the Berlin service provider TSE AG.

Ever since being given an overhaul for soccer’s World Cup in 2006, the stadium has been regarded by insiders as “one of the finest sounding arenas in the world.â€? It’s a reputation the 74,000-seat venue fully lived up to during the Championships — and even surpassed. Coverage of the grandstands in was provided by 19 hangs of nine Electro-Voice Xlci line array loudspeakers. Since 2004, these compact, versatile and powerful enclosures have been providing the arena with true concert-quality sound.

The team from TSE under Project Director Friedrich Hoffman enhanced the coverage in the first five rows at the championships by deploying Electro-Voice EVID loudspeakers. In all, 40 EVID 4.2 systems driven by five CP3000S amplifiers were positioned at seven-meter intervals “ringside.� The four-man commentary team, with tabletop keypanels specially adapted for the championships by TSE at their disposal, enjoyed the greatest freedom of movement, thanks to the directional flexibility of their microphone and monitoring equipment. This was provided by Electro-Voice PWS-4 Programmable Wall Stations equipped with PWS-C CAN Bus modules and processed by an Electro-Voice N8000 system controller with IRIS-Net.

At the official opening ceremony, Electro-Voice set the tone: in addition to the house system, six Electro-Voice PX1122M stage monitors provided support to soul singer Oceana and a 1,000-voice choir as well as to the President of Germany, Horst Köhler, and the IAAF in their opening addresses.

“When they were renovating the Olympic Stadium, the organizers were hugely impressed by the line-array-based solution proposed by Electro-Voice, and they’ve never had a reason to regret their decision,� says Marcel Fery, Executive Director Finance/Technical Equipment with TSE. “This event provided further vindication. In the area of sound reinforcement, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin continues to be the standard to which the others aspire. And we’re by no means alone in this opinion. Many of our colleagues and independent audio experts have said the same thing.�

Electro-Voice’s presence was felt by the athletes in the training and warm-up areas, as QRx112 speaker systems equipped by TSE with rain-hoods kept the event flowing smoothly, providing announcements and starting cues for the athletes.

About TSE AG
The history of TSE AG began in 1998 with the merger of two companies: Total Sound Fery & Weinert GmbH and Excellent Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH. Today the Berlin-based enterprise employs a full-time staff of 40 people active in the areas of planning and execution, warehousing, technical direction and internal management, as well as 60 freelance technicians and assistants. With clients that include the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the Hotel Adlon, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Max Schmeling Hall and the Tempodrom, TSE AG is one of the most highly respected names in Germany in the events and entertainment technology industry.

Electro-Voice Equipment list (extract)
171 x EV Xlci127+ (installation version) loudspeakers comprising 19 arrays
40 x EV EVID 4.2 loudspeakers
5 x EV CP3000S amplifiers
1 x EV NetMax N8000 with IRIS-Net system controller
5 x EV PWS-4 and PWS-C NetMax Programmable Wall Stations (built into custom tabletop keypanels)
6 x EV PX1122M stage monitors

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