Community Professional Loudspeakers celebrate 50 years of offering innovative loudspeaker solutions.
Founded by Bruce Howze in 1968 to develop concert-worthy loudspeakers that were both powerful and lightweight, Community have become a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of professional loudspeakers for installed applications.
Bruce said: “Everyone was making horns from wood, sheet metal or cast iron. We thought fibreglass would be an ideal material for small runs.
“It was lightweight, strong, portable and relatively easy to mold to shape. We could make horns that were far more accurate to mathematical equations, without the imperfections of wood, and with far less weight.”
Bruce added: “At the time, touring systems were mainly comprised of large folded bass horns, topped with multicellular high frequency horns.
“There was nothing that could do 500 Hz well, which left a big hole in the midrange. Midrange is where voice intelligibility lives, and to my mind is the most important aspect of a loudspeaker – to communicate. We focused on that midrange right at the outset, and it continues to be paramount in everything we do.”
Bruce continued: “There’s been a trend among loudspeaker manufacturers to overlook intelligibility in favour of the ‘wow’ factor of big bass. That sort of misses the point that all the critical information is in the midrange. If you don’t get that right, the rest of it doesn’t mean a thing.”
Community’s developments in horn designs, enclosures and transducers, combined with detailed performance measurement and documentation, have achieved a list of ‘firsts’ in: large-scale systems, extreme all-weather capability and solutions for difficult acoustic environments.
The company have a long history of established clients including: Elvis Presley touring with Community’s Leviathan in the ‘70s to public address for the largest annual gathering in Mecca. Venice have also used Community regularly to provide audio flood warnings, and the Olympic’s and world-class stadia have also used Community systems for ‘loud and clear’ communication.
Steve Johnson joined Community as the CEO in 2013, and brought his industry experience from: substantial sales, marketing and commercial to the company. Audioprof Group International also acquired a majority share in Community in 2015, and through the acquisition, Community became a member of their installed audio portfolio along with European-based Apart Audio.
Steve said: “As we aspire to exceed the industry’s expectations and provide exceptional customer service, we will continue to innovate with new products like the IV6.
“Community was founded by Bruce Howze all those years ago because he believed there had to be a better way to make loudspeakers. I see the IV6 with its unique array shaping tools as proof that innovation is alive and well at Community and will continue to define Community long into the future.”
