"KS28 is a marked improvement on the SB28, and I was not at all unhappy with the SB28," reports Gregg Brunclik, president and CEO of Milwaukee, WI-based Clearwing.
This tour represented the official US debut of the KS28, which was introduced only a month ago at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt and deployed by Clearwing on a North American pilot program for the product.
With its extended frequency response (down to 25 Hz), reduced weight (174 lbs) and three decibels greater output than its predecessor, the KS28 easily handles everything from classical to EDM, says the manufacturer.
Gilmour is best known for the decades he spent with classic rock pioneers Pink Floyd, and his searing guitar work on tracks like Money and Comfortably Numb have been named as among the best in the history of rock music. Colin Norfield is the engineer tasked with bringing that sound to audiences around the world and he was also impressed with the KS28.
"They are half-again as loud and 30 pounds lighter," Norfield shares. "They have a tighter, deeper and richer sound, which helped to enhance David's show. The KS28 is great all-round and I'm looking forward to using them again on the next leg of the tour," he says, also adding his personal gratitude to the Clearwing crew for their help in "making the Rattle That Lock tour the success it was."
In describing the overall sound of the system, Brunclik used two words that are too-often mutually exclusive when it comes to subwoofers. "In addition to being 3 dB louder, the KS28 is both more musical and more concussive than the SB28," he says. "And the combination of the new sub with the already established K1 and K2 boxes in the hands of a truly great engineer like Colin is an immensely powerful tool.
"He did an awesome job mixing this, by the way. The sound of this tour was nothing less than stellar. It's been quite some time since I stood in front of a rig grinning like a schoolboy."
The full system complement for the 11-date, four-city tour (Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago and New York) included left and right main PA hangs of 14 K1 over four K2 per side, each backed by an array of 12 K1-SB subs. Out-fill arrays were comprised of 10 K1 over eight K2 per side, with left and right extreme out-fill arrays each made up of 12 Kara.
Two dozen KS28 subs ground-stacked double high across the face of the stage and driven by six LA12X amplified controllers (in two new LA-RAK II racks) generously filled out the show's low end, while an LCR delay system of three hangs of six K2 covered the farthest seats in the largest venues. Aside from the KS28 subs, the full system was powered and processed by 58 LA8 housed in 18 LA-RAK touring racks.
With Gilmour's entourage soon heading to Europe and the UK, international sound reinforcement duties will switch back over to Britannia Row Productions, who supplied the mixing consoles and monitors for the North American leg. Like Clearwing, Brit Row will be carrying the new KS28 subs in addition to the rest of the full K1/K2 package overseas.
(Jim Evans)
