When you’re on a presidential campaign trail, rallying the crowds is all about the details. For Donald Trump, those details include a powerful sound system to carry both his message and the music he likes to pump out before he takes the stage. Recently, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Mike Brown, President and CEO of M & M Productions USA, took on the important job of producing a Trump rally, which included making sure that the presidential hopeful was completely satisfied with every detail of the event. On November 16th, ten thousand attendees packed themselves into the Exhibit Hall of the Knoxville Convention Center – a 120,000 square foot space – and listened while the businessman-turned-politician fired up the crowd, supported by twelve FBT Muse 210LA’s. Trump, known in some circles for being very particular, was notably impressed.
“Setting up sound in a ballroom of that size, for a stage in the round, presents some challenging issues,” said Brown of the event. “We shot over to the sides with six Muse210LA’s on each side, and filled behind and to the front of the stage with a few smaller point-and-shoot boxes just to warm those areas. The FBTs did all of the heavy lifting, though, and they really rocked the event.”
When asked why he chose the FBT brand for the rally, Brown elaborated.
“For starters,” he said, “Mr. Trump has his own playlist on a personal iPad that he wants played at his rallies. And he wants it loud. I’m talking everything from Phantom of the Opera to Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and Adele. FBT gives you a full-range response, and that’s what’s so amazing about them, even to our own engineers that use them pretty regularly. For the rally, we flew them in full range mode without a single subwoofer, and the low end that came out of them was just incredible. Meanwhile, when the music was over and we got down to just his voice, the sound was clean and totally natural, all while throwing out about 215 feet in each direction. They’re great for anything you use them for, which is why I wasn’t going to consider using anything else at this rally. We’ve had demos come in from multiple other manufacturers, all in the same price range. They’ve just never come close to the quality we get out of FBT Muse, which just chews them up and spits them out.”
That quality didn’t escape “The Donald,” either. In fact, according to Brown, a visibly impressed Trump approached him right after the rally, saying, “The sound was amazing today. Just great. Incredible job.” Further discussions with his campaign staff indicated that they felt the sound quality was far superior to other venues on their tour. Based on these comments, Brown anticipates they’ll be picking up more of Trump’s events in the future.
Brown, whose company specializes in broadcasting and video, as well as corporate and political events, says they typically produce over 400 events a year, often supporting live entertainment as part of the mix. FBT has become a “go to” brand, not just because of its superior quality, but also because of the customer service he receives from FBT’s U.S. Distributor, Italian Speaker Imports/FBT USA.
“When we’re talking about competitors in our market,” said Brown, “I tell people all the time: Anybody can go buy audio visual equipment and do a show for you. The difference between one company and another is the people ‘in’ that company, and the customer service they’ll provide to you. M & M Productions USA is all about quality and service. We love dealing with everyone at Italian Speaker Imports because they have the same philosophy we do. John Krupa, the owner, has an incredible reputation in our industry and when you work with him you see why pretty fast. The ongoing level of personal attention and the desire to make sure you have everything you need for an event to be successful is pretty amazing. You’re dealing with an outstanding Italian product, but because you have someone so dedicated here in the states, everything runs that much more smoothly. FBT, John and his company have just blown us away compared to other big name brands we’ve used prior to this. You can have the best speaker product in the world, but you’ve got to have the people to sell it, support it and stand by the product – At Italian Speaker Imports, they do.”
