Dedicated to ending extreme poverty by 2030, the Global Citizen movement hosts an annual music festival to raise awareness and drive change in this world. Featuring The Roots and DJ Tiesto, the 2014 Global Citizen Festival saw Firehouse Productions using its JBL VTX loudspeakers and Crown I-Tech HD amplification at the stage on the Great Lawn of New York’s Central Park.

The one-day show called for real action in terms of education, sanitation and healthcare. Addressing 55 acres, the PA system featured two hangs of 18 VTX V25 line arrays per side, 38 VTX G28 and 16 VT4880A subwoofers for the main PA, complemented by four hangs of 12 VT4889 loudspeakers for delays. The system was powered by 60 Crown I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers loudspeakers for the mid-high sections and 24 I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers for the subwoofers, all monitored and controlled with JBL HiQnet Performance Manager.

‘Our engineers and the audience liked the sound very much,’ says Mark Dittmar, VP of Design & Engineering. ‘The VTX boxes performed consistently, with powerful bass and clear highs. Though it’s an outdoor venue, we set up delay towers to reach every corner of the venue. As always, there were no challenges that we couldn’t overcome with these line arrays. The biggest thing for us is to have a single amplifier that can power every JBL loudspeaker we use, so we can use just one amp rack design for everything. The flexibility is really incredible.’

‘We meticulously designed and tested this unique system for the purpose of being able to support a show that goes on for the whole day,’ Dittmar says. ‘Thanks to the Crown amplifiers, we were confident that performance remained uninterrupted.’