The L-series has been designed with a 'total system approach' including speakers, amplifiers, processing and logistics, with the main design goal being the creation of a versatile system that would also make a sensible investment for smaller rental companies. 'The Ribbon' system can be scaled from (part of) a large-scale long-throw arena system to an ultra-compact single cabinet system, by changing four bolts of its rotatable 'Morpher' waveguide. For HF reproduction, the LR16 is loaded with the powerful Alcons RBN601 ribbon driver. Besides the ribbon's natural cylindrical (Isophasic) wavefront, its transient response caters for high intelligibility and throw, with unprecedented gain-before-feedback. The 1000W peak power handling offers real digital dynamics, without any strain or threshold.
The frequencies below 1200Hz are taken care of by two low-power compression 8" mid-bass drivers, providing a lowest usable frequency of 55Hz. A newly developed mid-tapering lens in front of the cone-drivers creates smooth off-axis response, without any lobes. Together with the unique real-90 dispersion of the RBN601, the system has true 90° coverage beyond 20kHz.
The integrated heavy-duty flying system does not use any separate or loose parts and is certified to an unusually high safety-rating of 14:1 (12 units). With the two-side usable bumper, the system can easily be ground-stacked. The Alcons Ribbon Calculator (ARC) software calculates positions in 15 steps of 0.7°.
With the first shipment of the LR16, Alcons is "laying the foundation of the international network of L-series users". The Ribbon Network, say Alcons, will increase the return-on-investment of the Ribbon system even further, with "dry-hire" cooperation between members, product development and factory-direct support.
(Lee Baldock)
