Auto auction facilities are often like large garages. Cars pass through lanes of giant metal buildings with concrete floors, and open garage doors, so in-person and online buyers can bid. Parallel lanes have a slight separation, allowing buyers to walk from auction to auction quickly.
Auctioneers like to be loud and understood. They don’t like hearing adjacent auctioneers. Hundreds of cars can pass through an auction. Buyers need to hear, so they don’t miss a sale. Auctioneers fight loudness wars. Ultimately, equipment is damaged, the sound quality suffers for those streaming remotely, and it can cause permanent hearing damage. This noise and poor acoustics can adversely affect the auctions and revenues.
Advanced Sound & Communication has worked with local auto auctions in the Kansas City market for over 30 years. For about 15 years, we have provided audio, video, surveillance systems, and services to the largest independent auction business, KCIAA. KCIAA is now part of America’s Auto Auction / XLErate Group organization, which has 23 locations throughout the United States. KCIAA is now America’s Auto Auction KC.
Over a year ago, we received a distress call. Multiple lanes had no audio. After extensive testing and fact-finding with staff members, we determined the equipment failures resulted from a direct lightning hit. Amplifiers and speakers were burnt. Fortunately, the failures were drastic and immediately apparent. Static discharges and lightning strikes can sometimes damage microchips which might malfunction or fail years later. We quickly installed temporary systems to eliminate downtime and minimize the inconvenience of supply chain-related delays. We began working on a plan to restore functions and increase redundancy simultaneously.
When KCIAA was built, we housed the audio, video, and surveillance equipment in one secure room, the MDF (IT Closet). Initially, this room was right-sized for the amount of equipment. KCIAA had several power-related events that damaged office and AV equipment a few years after opening. A backup power generator, conditioners, and UPSs (Uninterruptable Power Supplies) were installed. Two QSC QSYS Core processors replaced the original audio processor. After 15 years, the systems outgrew the space and its ability to keep the IT equipment cool. Management expressed this concern. They are planning on building a new MDF and gutting the original. They needed rack space for this process.
Technology has changed a lot in 15 years. We provided a solution that decreased BTUs and freed valuable rack space in the MDF while providing maximum redundancy for processors and amplifiers. We installed compact systems in secure locations under countertops in each lane. We eliminated the need for thousands of feet of copper cable from the overhead cable trough. Reducing the length and location of the wires has improved audio quality and reliability. Each lane has a dedicated QSC QSYS Core Nano processor, QIO-ML4i and QIO-L4o. Two two-channel Powersoft Mezzo 602A amplifiers powering four JBL AWC82 speakers gave us the flexibility to balance the speakers to the room. Two pre-existing QSC Core 110F processors remain in the MDF. They provide audio to the streaming auction computers and the surveillance NVR (Network Video Recorder).
Before the lighting strike, the QSC Core110Fs reliability was excellent. Management said they were glad to see us because it had been two years since our last service call. Our retail division, Big Dude’s Music, has been a QSC dealer since day one, and we have been incorporating QSYS systems in our installations since its release. QSC continues to grow, evolve, and communicate well with its dealers to navigate supply chain issues. Being experienced and fully certified in QSYS makes programming and integration a breeze. The system has received a unanimous thumbs-up from the auctioneers. The feedback from online streamers is the audio is more transparent and louder than before. We have no doubts America’s Auto Auction will continue to function issue free.
We look forward to seeing Doug, Steve, and the rest of the staff in a couple of years.