The company's new ElectroVoice package purchase includes 24 x XLC 127+ line array cabinets, four SLX 118 subwoofers, and 12 x Xsubs from the X-Line range. To power the system, there are 24 Precision Series P3000RLs, the flagship model in EV's top line of remote power amplifiers, which offers 2 x 1300W into 4/2 x 1800 W into 2 Ohms.
"It wasn't a spontaneous decision to buy ElectroVoice," says Systems Etc's Bernard Mani, "we've been researching the market for about two years. We came to the XLC line-array because it was such a good match for the work we're doing, in terms of size and format. Some of the very compact systems are not suitable for our bigger gigs, but the XLC gives us the flexibility to go from small venues with 500 people, all the way up to big outdoor events for 30,000."
To prove this, Mani points to one of the first events he did with the new system, the Orange Evolution Festival, a huge free outdoor event in Newcastle-upon-Tyne taking place across three outdoor stages, including the Quayside, where 30,000 people listened to Dizzee Rascal, Super Furry Animals and the Futureheads in Bank Holiday sunshine.
'The XLC system is particularly good outdoors, offering 120 degrees of dispersion compared to the 90 degrees of some other types of line array, and it has better horizontal coverage," says Mani. "With the Precision Series amplifiers, we have the advantage of being able to control every amplifier independently. This gives us a lot of control over the system compared with conventional amps, and this is especially useful when we're working outdoors under strict environmental noise guidelines."
The compact presentation of the XLC system, with all the rigging hardware integrated into the cabinets, was a big plus for Bernard Mani, who had never actually heard a full XLC system before he ordered this one. "Practical issues like transportation and set-up are all-important. The XLC ticked all the boxes on paper, and we had confidence in the ElectroVoice brand, so I was satisfied to have a demo in Shuttlesound's car park! Their back-up was also impressive, providing all the software packages such as the amplifier control system IRIS and the LAPS speaker alignment system, together with training courses in the theory as well as the practical use."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
