Furman Helps Delano High School Protect Its Investment In A New Sound System

The motto for Delano High School, in Delano, MN reads “Educational Excellence is our Foremost Goal,” an outlook that has helped propel the school to be ranked in the Bronze category by US News & World Reports’ annual listings. That pursuit for excellence extends to the school’s facilities, as well, and is reflected in the newly finished renovation of its auditorium, where locally based Farber Sound has installed a new sound system comprised of elements from JBL, Crown, BSS, Soundcraft and Shure. But the linchpin product is power management by Furman, which protects the school’s substantial investment in quality sound.

The 437-seat auditorium, part of a larger school district campus for Delano Elementary School and Delano Middle School and that includes an indoor swimming pool, a football stadium, and baseball, softball and soccer fields, is used for every type of activity from assemblies to musical and theatrical performances, was completely gutted and renovated, with the goal of achieving full-range and highly intelligible audio throughout. The new sound system’s ability to consistently perform is fundamentally based on the protection and ease of use that an array of Furman products provides. Farber Sound deployed an ASD-120 AC Sequenced Power Distribution 120 Amp, three MP-20Q Quad Box Power Relay Accessory units, and a PL-8C Power Conditioner.

Each Furman component has a specific, critical function. For instance, the MP-20Q 2-gang relays are specific to the mixing console and the control booth monitors, powering them up in a calculated sequence that is synchronized with the turn-on sequence of the ASD-120 for the other sound system components. “This gives us a common key that turns on the sound system and also triggers the low-voltage outputs of the ASD-120 and triggers the MP-20Q relays to turn the mixer and monitors on and off,” Farber explains. The PL-8C power conditioner provides the entire system with protections such as Furman’s revolutionary Series Multi-Stage Protection (SMP), Linear Filtering Technology (LiFT), and Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS).

In sum, these Furman components create a protective ecosystem of power management and conditioning for Delano High School’s significant investment in its new sound system. “It’s also very easy and predictable to use, so the school’s staff can operate it consistently every time,” says Farber. That’s why Farber Sound has been using similar arrays of Furman technology for other area school projects, such as Rockford High School in Rockford, MN where the new sound system installation is nearly complete, and which also made use of the ASD-120 as well as Furman’s PlugLock, a Circuit-Breaker Protected Locking Outlet Strip. “We use Furman because it offers a simple solution for easy and reliable power management and surge protection,” says Farber. “It’s a great choice for schools like these that provides a lot of management and protection capability with a minimal number of components and cost.”