Boasting its own City of Rock venue, Rock in Rio pulled in around 600,000 music fans for its seven-day run in 2013. Held on the site where the Olympic Village will be located for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the festival saw Gabisom Audio Equipment running JBL VTX line arrays powered by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers – the first time the company has used VTX and I-Tech HD pairing for the event.

The PA system used a total of 152 JBL VTX V25 full-size line array elements, 46 VTX S28 arrayable subwoofers and 24 G28 ground-stacked subwoofers. Powering the system were 122 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers. The system was managed with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager software.

‘We have enjoyed tremendous success with JBL VerTec line arrays at previous Rock in Rio festivals, and we saw this year’s event as an opportunity to capitalise on the increased power and controllability of the VTX line arrays with Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers,’ says Gabisom Chief Engineer, Peter Racy. ‘The system performed exceptionally and we are confident that our products will continue to accommodate the needs of the audience and performers as the Rock in Rio festival continues to grow each year.’

‘Gabisom has been an important Harman partner for many years and has trusted our tour sound products as the premiere PA system solution for the main stage [Palco Mundo] at Rock in Rio,’ offers Jaime Albors, Senior Director of Global Sales Operations at Harman Professional. ‘There are many options out there, and having them constantly select our products is a clear sign that JBL and Crown meet and exceed the expectations of Gabisom as well as the event producers and engineers using the system. I have been at the festival many times and it is impressive to see how this PA can overcome more than 100,000 roaring fans.’