Have you ever struggled to hold a 50lb amplifier with one arm while you try to hold a mounting screw on the end of your screwdriver, and line up the holes on the rack rails with the mounting ears of the amplifier all while you hope you don't strip the threads? Or better yet, have you ever dropped a heavy rack component onto other components in the rack when you were trying to take it out? WHY?

Most of us have been there at one point or another. Installing and servicing rack installed AV equipment can be a struggle if you aren't an avid fitness enthusiast personally trained by Hans and Frans. Damaged components, busted knuckles, and sore muscles are often the result of a typical day installing components into rack or servicing rack components in the field.

One day after limping into work after dropping the corner of a power conditioner on his foot, one of our engineers thought there had to be a better way. A year later, we debuted the Load-A-Rack Installation Tool (LAR150) at InfoComm 2014. 

If the LAR150 saves one dropped rack component from falling to the ground, or worse yet, falling on your foot, it will pay for itself. Sore muscles from your Friday afternoon rack installation don't have to linger on throughout the weekend and you don't need a gym membership or personal trainers like Hans and Frans to "Pump... You up!" You just need the LAR150!

In 1934, Atlas Sound was one of the first to manufacture outdoor public address speakers by combining the horn shape of a megaphone with electro acoustics. Many other people were first introduced to Atlas Sound through it's strong reputation for extremely durable microphone stands. But the Atlas Sound of today is a much different company.

Paging horns, compression drivers, and microphone stands are still part of the current product lineup, but sound technology has come a long way since 1934 and Atlas Sound has been an innovator in those advancements. Since the Beatles used Atlas Sound mic stands on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, the company has undergone many changes including the relocation of their manufacturing from Brooklyn, NY to Ennis, TX just south of Dallas. 

As the world changed with the invention of the internet and ethernet cables, so did Atlas Sound. The analog world the company was built on has become part of the network. VoIP, integrated DSP, scalable power amplifier mainframes, and system management can all be done online now and the products have become more of a hybrid between the traditional audio component and a piece of IT equipment. 

The Atlas Sound of today is more of a communications technology company with product solutions for public announcements, mass notification and emergency communication (MNEC) systems, life safety, speech privacy, multi-campus communication systems, live music venus, athletic fields and stadiums of any size, K-12 and higher education classroom systems, and more. 

The analog world that jumpstarted Atlas Sound has evolved into a multitude of digital product solutions that the original founders could have never imagined. 

For more information about the history and evolution of Atlas Sound, visit www.atlassound.com/aboutus