Talk about having to make yourself heard above the crowd. Imagine trying to deliver clear, intelligible speech to more than 160,000 people over the roar of souped-up WWII-vintage war planes racing over a closed course at speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour. That was Scott Bergstrom's assignment when the management people of the National Championship Air Races and Air Show at Reno, Nevada, called on Starsound Audio to solve their nagging audio problems. "Apparently they had been fielding complaints for the several years from people in attendance that they couldn't hear the narration of the races or the commentator's descriptions of the various performers during the air show," said Bergstrom, president of Starsound Audio. The challenge was no small one. More than 160,000 people annually pack the noisy four-day event, which began in 1964. The air races have been held at the Reno/Stead Airport, about 10 miles north of Reno, since 1966. In addition to five classes of air races - from biplanes to the unlimiteds topping 500 miles-an-hour just a few hundred feet overhead, the show hosts a variety of air show performers. Last year - in addition to eight former NASA astronauts serving as grand marshals - the highlight of the air show was the always-spectacular performance of the United States Air Force's crack Thunderbirds. “The grandstands stretch about 2,000 feet along the main runway,” Bergstrom said. “The distance between the farthest speakers at either end of the venue is more than a half-mile.” Bergstrom placed 28 speakers about 75 feet in front of the bleacher area at tarmac level at about 70-foot intervals maximize bleacher and V.I.P. area coverage. The bi-amped system, using eight racks of amps, cranked more than enough sound. "The pit for one plane, called 'Rare Bear,' was located in a large pit area at the north end of the facility. The pit crew complained the sound from the BAG END CRYSTAL speakers was too loud - and when we weren't looking they would turn the cabinets nearest to them around," Bergstrom laughed. "But we created a much better sound situation than they had before, and there was a world of difference in the fidelity of the sound with the BAG END speakers." Bergstrom employed four high-output BAG END CRYSTAL sound systems and two high-output quad-18 QUARTZ subwoofer systems - and those six speakers covered the entire, immense pit area. The CRYSTAL's high-compression driver, with a three-inch copper voice coil, drives a custom designed oval, high-frequency wave guide. Teamed with a pair of 12-inch low-frequency cone drivers, the CRYSTAL provides extraordinary high output and fidelity in a wedge-shaped enclosure that provides 40 degrees vertical coverage by 55 degrees horizontal coverage at -6dB, with a power-handing capacity of 800 watts continuous sine wave. Each QUARTZ contains four 18-inch ELF drivers with a power-handling capacity of 1600 watts continuous sine wave, down to 8 Hz. Held each year in September, Reno's 2000 National Championship Air Races and Air Show was Sept. 14-17. Starsound Audio is located at 2679 Oddie Blvd., Reno, Nevada 89512; telephone: 775-331-1010; fax: 775-331-1030. Starsound's e-mail address is: esales@starsound.com. The company's web site address is: www.starsound.com