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Over the last 27 years London Audio has become
one of Canada's leading audio/visual installation
companies. We have served on the board of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation
Association of Canada and have been featured
in both national and international publications.

London Audio has established an enviable reputation as a provider of leading edge audio-visual installations
for health clubs and fitness facilities. Our track record of successful installations is the product of careful planning; craftsman-like technical installation; superb products and great clients that understand the impact of high quality music and video plays on the customer experience.

Creating a positive, entertaining experience is essential to client retention, which drives today's business. London Audio is intimately familiar with
the audio-visual needs of today' s leading fitness facilities: as a result, our products and services
have been chosen by The Athletic Club, Total Fitness, Goodlife Fitness, Gold's Gym, the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College for a number of their facilities.

The most obvious sign of integration in the in the fitness environment is the proliferation of video entertainment in the cardio equipment area. Display devices can range from LCD televisions mounted to the cardio equipment, traditional CRT televisions mounted close to equipment or large screen projection systems installed in projection walls. Typically, London Audio utilizes CRT based televisions or rear projection systems for the best return on investment. Unlike the newer DLP and LCD displays, they are essentially maintenance free during their installed life.

Under typical 24/7 usage conditions, we would
expect a life span of eight or more years, although a scheduled rotation of displays every five years is recommended. LCD and DLP projection systems require replacement lamps every 8,000-10,000 hrs (10-13 months) at an average price of $500.00/lamp plus installation. These technologies, however, are better suited for use with computer generated images or signage as traditional televisions lack the connectivity necessary for the application. We would
recommend flat panel Plasma or LCD panels for electronic signage applications: they are bright, bold and certainly capture the attention of any passerby.

In our health club installations we prefer to treat the music systems as "front of house" systems rather
than background music. Music energizes, motivates and, of course, entertains. Rich, clear sound with
a beat that can be felt is an important component in our clients' success. Fitness centers are traditionally
busy, noisy places and the music has to be able to cut through the background racket of cardio
equipment, plate equipment and general traffic without being overbearing. Out systems offer superb
fidelity using loudspeakers from JBL and Tannoy to offer sound quality up to recording studio standards
if you choose.

We have selected JBL Control Contractor series speakers for most of our projects as they offer a variety of size and quality options in both free standing and ceiling mounted applications. They are all voiced identically so that as one passes from the reception area, to cardio, to free-weights and into the locker rooms the same tonal balance is maintained. They offer extremely versatile installation and blend in well with most décor choices. Subwoofers are a standard item in all our installations in order to provide the visceral impact that background music systems simply can't deliver. This is key to delivering rich, full-bodied sound at moderate volume levels.

For our deluxe systems we use Tannoy loudspeakers, the same speakers found in more
recording studios than any other brand. For the
most critical projects, the superior fidelity of
Tannoy studio monitors delivers a level of performance that clients could only dream of
achieving in their home let alone expect to find
in their heath club. Previous clients have used this level of quality to make a statement about the overall quality of their facility, their staff and their level of service.

All our installations are zoned to provide a different musical experience for each of the club's patrons.
Music with a harder edge for the free weight area, middle of the road or top 40 selections in the cardio and plate area and something a little softer in the women's area are typical requests of our clients. For zone control we use the DBX 640 processor. It enables common source components to be shared
throughout the facility with global paging available for announcements. Within a zone, we can supply either a basic remote volume control or a combination
source selector and level control for simple system control. The importance of music in the fitness experience is expressed most dramatically in the aerobics studio. It is the highest energy, most directly engaging area of any club. During hip-hop instruction clients expect a nightclub like sound experience. For yoga or Pilates smooth and tuneful music is essential. A second rate sound system simply diminishes the experience. Today's leading aerobics instructors have become performance artists in their own right and we have had several award-winning instructors hone their skills on sound systems installed by London Audio.

As important as fidelity is to effective fitness instruction, reliability is always paramount. The system must function day in and day out with redundancy provided for the inevitable emergencies. Although London Audio's clients have managed to blow up dozens of speakers, amplifiers and every major brand of microphone on the planet, we have learned what products will actually work in the field and which vendors will stand behind their products under real world conditions. Heroic service calls
sometimes make for great client referrals but we would frankly rather the equipment just didn't break
in the first place.

The least glamorous component of any aerobics system is the microphone but it is the heart of the whole system. If the instructor cannot be heard clearly and reliably, how can they instruct? Wireless headsets are available from every major vendor
including Shure, Audio Technica, Crown, and specialty "aerobics" microphone manufacturers. All have failed predictably not at the microphone itself, but at the lead-out wire and connection to the body pack. The only way to overcome this problem is to eliminate the wires. London Audio recommends the Samson Airline series of microphones in which the transmitter is built into the headband of the microphone, eliminating the number one cause of failure.

For system amplification we recommend Crown amplifiers exclusively. These are true professional grade components found in nightclubs and in touring systems around the world. To recreate the nightclub experience, the same equipment found in the clubs must be used. Using portable DJ grade gear will not
yield the audio quality or provide the long-term durability of a properly installed and tuned club system.

One key to system performance is the inclusion of acoustic treatments. Most aerobics studios are large reverberant spaces with poor intelligibility. London
Audio has successfully used off the shelf acoustic baffles and custom, stretched fabric wall systems in order to upgrade system performance.

Our ability to implement quality installation is
hardly limited to small boutique facilities. Our
latest project was the completion of the Athletic
Club's newest facility: a mammoth 52,000 square
foot facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This facility
included music systems for plate, cardio and free
weight areas; an enormous cardio theater wall;
three aerobics rooms and an indoor pool! With
London Audio's attention to detail and careful
planning, this project was finished on time and
on budget.

We are confident that we can extend our history
of success with your facility and welcome the
opportunity to work with you on this project.

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