AMS have announced details of a proposed merger between AMS Industries PLC of Burnley and Calrec Audio Limited of Hebden Bridge. Both AMS and Calrec address the professional audio recording and broadcast market places with different but complimentary product ranges. (AMS are naturally best known for their digital processing gear and Calrec are in the field of custom consoles and condenser mics).

Details: AMS Industries PLC, (Contact Details).

Got any old audio gear lying around? If so, how about selling it off at the AudioJumble. This unique event takes place at the Gandhi Hall, 41 Fitzroy Square (Near the Post Office), adjacent to Tottenham Court Road, London W1 on Sunday 26th October. Admission is 90p. Details: (Contact Details).

More power amps, this time from FM Acoustics Ltd, of Switzerland who will present their range at the forthcoming AES exhibition in Los Angeles. The power amps are renowned for their ability to drive any load between 10kΩ and 0.25Ω and are unique in their ability to supply currents in excess of 200A. These power amps also use only hand selected discrete components in all audio circuitry, even down to the balanced non-polarised Class A input stages, and all transistors in the audio path go through five different selection procedures resulting in inherently distortion free amplification stages without the need for error correction circuitry!

Two other new products are the FM 236/4 Linear-Phase Electronic Crossover which is available either as a 3-way or 4-way monophonic unit with or without precision limiters; and a new range of High Energy transfer cables. Details: FM Acoustics Ltd, (Contact Details).

Hayden Laboratories plan to show a representation of the Sennheiser and Dynacord range of equipment at the forthcoming Sound Comm 86 exhibition in Manchester.

Details: Hayden Laboratories Ltd, (Contact Details).

Ibanez's new stereo digital reverb caused a few heads to turn at the recent BMF. The SDR1000 uses 16-bit digital processing with room, hall and plate preset programs and the two channels of the SDR1000 may be programmed independently providing two separate reverb units in one package.

The SDR1000 also features MIDI In, Out and Thru, Hold and 4-band EQ and we shall be bringing you a full review in the near future.

Details: FCN Music, (Contact Details).

As part of the company's recent expansion into 11,000 sq feet of floor space Don Larking Audio Sales of Luton has refurbished the entire facility. A full working studio control room has been designed specifically for the demonstration of professional recording equipment.

Details: Don Larking Audio Sales, (Contact Details).

Attention all readers in South Wales! Peter Noble of Cardiff are holding an exhibition at the Angel Hotel, Westgate Street, Central Cardiff on Saturday 25th October from midday to 8pm featuring the latest from Akai, AKG, Aria, Boss, Casio, Charvel/Jackson, Dean Markley, EMG, Fostex, JVC Karaoke, Marshall, Ohm, Pearl, Roland, Rotosound, Tannoy, and Toa with demonstrations and 'hands on' special offers.

Details: Peter Noble, (Contact Details).

In November Ramsa will be launching two new power amplifiers: the WP-9110 and WP-9220 have a total power output of 100W and 200W RMS per channel into 8Ω although when used in a bridged mono mode, via the rear panel switch, both amplifiers are capable of trebling their power output. A 2-stage fan speed system and a power supply with a wide safe operating area are included in both amps which will retail for £575.99 and £799.99 respectively.

Details: Ian Sharpe or Giulia Ovidi, Ramsa, Electronic Musical Instrument Division, Public Relations Dept. Panasonic UK Ltd, (Contact Details).

Rhino Distribution have added the American Audio Logic line to it's Equipment Division, which already handles the US made Dod range of processors. Audio Logic products include the MT44 quad noise gate, X324 crossover and the MT66 stereo compressor/limiter.

Details: Rhino Distribution, Equipment Division, (Contact Details).

ASCE's second sound show, the Sound Comm 86 will take place on the 1st and 2nd of October at the New Century Hall, Manchester. On the 1st, the show will be open from 10.00am to 9.00pm, and on the second from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Many sorts of sound equipment will be exhibited, including alarm, PA, intercom and sound reinforcement systems.

Details: Brenda White, ASCE. (Contact Details).

Two new power amplifier modules are available from Sage Audio. They include (for the first time in module form), an active class A output stage with a non-switching action which allows for a significant improvement in speed and linearity over conventional class AB systems. The Superamp is a rugged bipolar design and the Supermos 100W is a MOSFET version.

Details: Sage Audio, (Contact Details).

Announced recently at the APRS show, the CP6800 is the latest in the expanding range of Soundtracs products. Designed for Commercial Recording and Post-Production Studios the CP6800 features advanced analogue circuitry with programmable digital routing which may be interfaced with Video Synchronizers. Available in a number of configurations with or without patch bay the CP6800 is fitted with an internal computer and monitor, with disc storage, SMPTE reader, and 8-way events controller housed in a remote 6U rack. Two versions of meter bridge are available either with moving coil VU meters or high resolution bargraphs, the console is supplied complete with stand. Provisionally priced at around £20-25,000 a number of units have already been delivered and full production is scheduled for September 86.

Soundtracs' FM series 19" rack mounted mixer is designed for fixed installation or to be fitted into a flightcase for secure transportation. Within the aluminium and steel mainframe there is space for 14 modules allowing a number of alternative configurations to be assembled according to the application.

Details: Soundout Laboratories Limited, (Contact Details).

Turnkey will be holding their annual hands-on show on November 22nd-23rd at the Sound Palace Hotel. This year the show will cover an area of 3200 square feet. Rumour has it that celebrities will be participating. Details: Turnkey, (Contact Details).

Tascam are introducing two new cassette decks to their range. The new Tascam 112 is designed for Stereo Mastering at a lower cost and offers the following features: It is rack-mounting, features Dolby B and C, Dolby HX pro headroom expansion, MPX filter on/off for extended response, front and rear inputs and cueing on fast forward and fast rewind. This model will retail at £389.85 including VAT.

The 112R Auto Reverse Stereo Cassette deck is designed for commercial continuous play use, and its remote sockets offer tally-out information to drive further machines. It's also very simple to chain several 112R's together to play continuously all day or using one machine as a master simultaneously engage record on all the slaves for duplication use.

Details: Harman UK, (Contact Details).

Following the success of their AR44BX 3-way speaker system AR have announced four new models. The AR55BX is an enhanced version with a titanium dome and re-vamped cabinet construction with tighter and more extended bass end, less mid-band colouration and more extended treble. The AR66 is larger than both the aforementioned models, utilising a larger polypropylene-coned bass unit at 12" in diameter for a bass response down to 30Hz. In contrast AR have also brought out a budget model in this series — the 35BX which employs an 8" woofer and a 6½" woofer mid-range. The two units are coupled acoustically by the air spring in the box and electronically via the crossover giving a good bass response extending down to 50Hz. Finally from AR the MG-C11 range is basically a budget version of the MGC-1 which was designed to control the directivity of the forward sound to avoid early, ear-confusing, floor, ceiling and wall reflections. The MG-C11 has two 4" low-colouration, polypropylene-coned, drivers spaced above and below the metal-dome tweeter and a 12" polypropylene woofer to provide the direct sound and two 6½" side units driven by separate electronics which delay their signal. Prices are as follows: MG-C11 £1,500, AR55BX £599, AR35BX £249, AR66 £800.

Details: Teledyne Acoustic Research, (Contact Details).

For the second year running live music in the north-east received a boost from a from a highly successful competition known as 'The Act' which endeavoured to find the region's most promising new musicians. The eventual winners won two days in a recording studio together with almost £12,500 worth of equipment from the Newcastle music store J.G Windows which was donated by sponsors; The Federation Brewery. The organisers were Metro Radio; and the judges, who included Dire Straits' keyboard player Alan Clark and ex-Animal Chas Chandler, named 'Mad Jack's Travelling Circus' as the overall winners, and they scooped up a Fostex 16-track mixing desk worth nearly £7000!