Sound and light in thousands of colours

Behind the scenes of the Value Added Service department

Whether in a museum, a hotel lobby or on board a cruise ship, the requirements for professional installation solutions have long since gone beyond technical functionality and top values. Integrators, architects and end customers are increasingly looking for custom solutions for loudspeakers or lights that integrate seamlessly into their intended environment. This is where the Adam Hall Group’s Value Added Service (VAS) department comes into play – in particular the painting service, which enables individual special solutions in almost any desired RAL colour.

From special case to core business segment

“It used to be more of a marginal phenomenon,” recalls Philip Friedrich, Team Lead of the VAS department. “We undertook maybe ten painting jobs a year. Today, it really has become a core business segment.” The increasing demand clearly shows that colour-customised products are no longer a rarity in the AV installation market. To ensure that the increasing number of projects can be realised reliably, the VAS department now works with several external paint shops.

The projects that arrive at VAS could hardly be more diverse. Recent examples include the painting of the LD Systems CURV 500 array satellites for Cologne’s Chocolate Museum – in chocolate brown, of course, to match the design of the walls. “The customer sent us photos and our painter used his colour mixing machine to reproduce the tone perfectly,” explains Philip Friedrich.

Another example is an Italian shipping company that equips several of its ships with floodlights in individual colour designs. Based on photos of the marble floor, an almost identical colour was mixed so that the installed lights on the ship’s deck ‘disappear’ visually. Such projects show how closely the VAS department works with customers, the field sales team, field application engineers and external painters – and how high the standards of precision and appearance are.

More than just colour: the technical effort behind every paint job

What at first glance looks like a quick repainting job is actually a demanding process. “Many people think of classic spray cans when they think of painting,” comments Philip Friedrich. “But the paint we use costs up to 190 euros per litre alone.” Then there are the painter’s labour hours and the preparation and post-processing of the products involved in the painting process. The rule here is: the higher the IP certification, the more complex it is:

Many components must first be dismantled
Cable routes, seals and other components must not be damaged
After painting, the complete reassembly is carried out by the VAS team

The effort required for moving lights is even greater: “Wherever moving parts are used, there is a risk of paint wearing off at friction points,” explains Philip Friedrich. For installations on cruise ships, paintwork must also be particularly resistant to UV radiation, salt water and weathering. “Up to seven coats of paint are required before the necessary durability is achieved for seaworthy paintwork,” explains Philip Friedrich.

After assembly, all products undergo extensive technical testing in the VAS department, including:

A complete functional check
An electrical safety check
A VDE test for legal protection

Only then are the painted products dispatched again. “We want to ensure that the customer receives a fully functional device – both visually and technically,” emphasises Philip Friedrich.

Any RAL colour – and sometimes even more

The VAS lacquering service covers the entire RAL palette, in both matt and gloss. And if a customer has special requests? No problem: thanks to a digital colour mixing machine, painters can reproduce almost any desired colour based on a good photo, as in the projects in Cologne and Italy. “If the photo is usable, the machine can recognise and reproduce the colour tone very well,” says Friedrich.

The VAS painting service is flexible, both in terms of the number of products and the models. A single loudspeaker or light can also be painted – right up to large quantities such as a current project involving around 270 fixtures for a large building project. Even though loudspeakers – especially the CURV 500 series – continue to be among the most popular products, the lighting sector is also growing more and more. The ZENIT W600 and B200 models in particular, but also the PIXBAR series, are among the most popular Cameo models.

Are you interested in the VAS painting service? Our project support team will be happy to advise you on your project: