Given the vast spectrum of events for which the company provides production support, Stewart Duckworth's long-standing sales, rental and installation operation sensed the time was right to invest in its own line array system after previously hiring in. As a result, this month they took delivery of an initial 12 HDL 20-A full range enclosures and four SUB 8006-AS subwoofers from RCF UK - and believe this is just the beginning.
Based in the East Midlands - in heart of the country with excellent transport links - this self-described "jobbing PA company," says the HDL 20-A ticks all the boxes - particularly with the busy summer season approaching, when their workload spans the spectrum of village galas right through to full-blown music festivals as well as theatre shows.
RCF was already a brand long respected by Stewart Duckworth. "I have been working with RCF components since the mid-1970s, when we were building our own enclosures for local bands, and this continued when we set up Chameleon in 1979," he says.
Nevertheless, the Chameleon MD first needed proof of concept and hired a local theatre for a full listening test assessment. He rigged the D-Line in two hangs and with the assistance of a percussionist colleague miked up a full drum kit and alternated different source feeds (from snares, cymbals etc) with some of his preferred reference CD tracks. "Without any outboard processing, just using the EQ on the board, we could achieve all the variation in drum sounds regularly required - proving the flatness and balance between the boxes to be just right.
"That told me everything I needed to know," he continued. "The system produces excellent sound quality and at the same time will comfortably meet customers' budgets. With the 2in horn on a waveguide and two 10" drivers, the top box could be used in its own right due to its broad frequency range."
(Jim Evans)
