Need help finding an outdoor audio system for a party...

[BorrowedTime]

Hi all,

I need help with some information regarding audio systems for an outdoor party, and I hope that someone here will be able to provide some useful info in relatively short order.

Here is the situation...

In July (between the 4th and 13th), here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada there's a 10-day party celebrating our western heritage and the cowboy culture surrounding it. As a result, there are several parties hosted by individuals and corporations throughout the city, at virtually all times of day. The company my friend works for hosts one such party for employees and clients. He made an off-hand remark to the individual responsible for the party set-up about the band that was hired last year. So, my friend's co-worker has tasked my buddy with coming up with an alternative to last year's band. Nothing really complex, basically a sound system hooked up to an I-pod, or other such device with a few hours of country and western music for background ambiance. The problem here is that he needs to come up with a suitable delivery system for the music so that it can be enjoyed by the guests, but it doesn't need to be so overpowering that it makes conversation impossible.

Specifics of the party are as follows...

-It will be in an open air area (probably a parking lot) where the music needs to reach a roughly 2500 square foot area, possibly larger. There will be a tent canopy set up, at the very least covering much of this space, possibly even tent walls on 3 sides.

-The party will take place in a busy part of the downtown area next to, or near, several pubs, and other corporate hosted parties (many parking lot areas are typically rented out at this time of year for this purpose), so there will be a bit of ambient noise ranging from other parties, to vehicular traffic, to large crowds of pedestrian traffic.

-There is an estimated budget of around $2500.00 for the sound system, either for purchase or rental. (This would have been the budget for hiring a C&W cover band).

-The Stampede party will occur over a 5-6 hour period, and at any given time will be host to 100+ people as employees and clients come and go.

What my friend needs to know is what kind of system (amplifier capable of accepting an I-pod dock/other music delivery device, as well as type and number of speakers, perhaps even placement, and cabling) he will need to project music over the given area, to the given crowd size, in the environment I've described. Like I stated earlier, the music doesn't need to be overpowering, simply there for atmosphere and theme.

The earlier any of you with an idea of how my friend accomplishes this can respond, the better. Especially, if he needs to rent this equipment as there will literally be hundreds of such parties occuring over this 10 day span throughout the city, and he will need as much lead time as possible to find such equipment.

Thanks in advance for any replies.