Posts Tagged ‘VTX Line Array’

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Thunder Audio Gears Up For Summer Festival Season with HARMAN’s JBL VTX Series Line Arrays

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Tuesday, 5/21/2013
The Thunder Audio team (pictured left to right): Paul Owen, Vice President; Tony Villarreal, President; and Greg Snyder, Business Development Manager.

The Thunder Audio team (pictured left to right): Paul Owen, Vice President; Tony Villarreal, President; and Greg Snyder, Business Development Manager.

NORTHRIDGE, California – It’s the start of the summer festival season, and tour sound provider Thunder Audio is thinking big, with an inventory that includes more than 50 HARMAN’s JBL VTX Series V25 line array loudspeakers, dozens of S28 and G28 subwoofers and enough Crown amplifiers to shake a stadium—how about 98 Crown I-Tech HD Series I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers for one gig alone? Thunder Audio will be providing the audio for the Movement Electronic Music Festival, the Faster Horses Festival and the Electric Forest Music Festival and tours for Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company and Marilyn Manson with Alice Cooper.

“This summer is shaping up to be an extremely busy one for us,” noted Greg Snyder, Business Development Manager for Thunder Audio. “We are using the JBL VTX Series on all of these festivals and tours because we feel that it is the best suited for a multitude of reasons.”

The Movement Electronic Music Festival will take place in Hart Plaza in Detroit on Memorial Day weekend and will feature more than 100 of the genre’s biggest artists including Deadmau5, Carl Craig, Moby and more. Thunder Audio will outfit the main Red Bull Music Academy stage with 18 V25 fullsize line array elements per side and four hangs of nine S28 subwoofers on the left and right of the stage, along with six V25 loudspeakers per side for outfill. Sixteen G28 ground-stacked subs will be deployed in a cardioid configuration for front fill, and side fills will include two S28 subs with two V25 loudspeakers on top. The system will be driven by a total of 98 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers and connected through dbx DriveRack 4800 loudspeaker management systems via JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

Rothbury, Michigan’s Electric Forest outdoor music festival (June 27–30) will feature performers in the jam band and electronic music genres including The String Cheese Incident, Pretty Lights, Passion Pit and nearly 100 other artists. For this diverse musical lineup, Thunder Audio will provide 16 V25 line array elements per side for the main left and right hangs and out-hangs of nine V25’s per side, complemented by 12 S28 and six G28 subs per side, powered by 72 I-Tech 12000 HD amps with dbx DriveRack 4800.

The Faster Horses Festival is a 3-day country music and camping festival to be held in Brooklyn, Michigan on July 19–21. The featured artists include ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean who will be joined by Kix Brooks, Florida Georgia Line and many others. The main stage system will include 18 V25 loudspeakers per side, with 12 V25’s flown per side for outfills and 12 JBL VERTEC® VT4888 midsize line array elements used for center and front fill. Twelve G28 ground-stacked subwoofers, 98 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amps and dbx 4800 processing complete the system lineup.

Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper will be livening up the summer tour scene with dates from late May through the end of June with an all-VTX system featuring two hangs of 14 V25’s per side and nine S28’s per side on the ground, all driven by 22 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers per side. Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company will also be hitting the road this summer and they’ll be packing a VTX system with two left and right main towers with 14 V25 loudspeakers each, along with two out-hangs of eight V25’s each, eight ground-stacked S28 subs per side and 22 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD powering each side.

“One of reasons we’ve used VTX for the past year is the sheer horsepower of the speakers and subs,” Snyder noted. “The extended low-end response of the S28 and G28 is incredible and the clarity of the V25 both outdoors and indoors rises above any other line array out there.” Snyder finds that the 15-inch woofers in the V25 make “a world of difference” and that the capability to change its crossover points from 80Hz to 60Hz enables Thunder Audio to optimize a VTX-based system for rock, electronic, country, jazz or any other type of music.

“After more than a year in the trenches using JBL VTX at a diverse number of events, I feel that VTX is a system that has established itself as something that’s going to set the standard for a long time,” Snyder concluded.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

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Sound Image Upgrades Audio System at Atlanta’s Historical Tabernacle With HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Friday, 1/11/2013

NORTHRIDGE, California – Sound Image of Escondido, California has dramatically improved the house PA system at the Tabernacle in Atlanta with an upgrade to HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays. While the venue, constructed as a Baptist church in 1910, posed a variety of acoustic challenges, Sound Image’s expert application of the VTX system has created a listening experience on par with Atlanta’s most prestigious venues.

Known informally as “The Tabby,” the Tabernacle has a seating capacity of 2,600 people and has changed very little from a structural standpoint in its 100-plus years. The Tabernacle features an open, standing-room space on the ground level, with three balconies at different levels.

According to Billy Lindsey, House FOH Engineer at the Tabernacle, the design of the venue creates a visually striking but sonically challenging environment. “Since it was built as a church, the Tabernacle was architecturally designed to amplify preachers, so you can talk from the stage and be heard well into the balconies,” he said. “Take that, add modern music and the stage volumes that some musicians can achieve, and you get a rough idea of what the acoustics are like.”

For the main PA system, Richard Davis of Sound Image and his team installed 24 VTX V25 fullsize line array elements (12 per side), with 12 S28 arrayable subwoofers (six per side), with left-right hangs of three VERTEC® VT4886 subcompact line array elements each for out fill. Crown IT12000HD amplifiers power the system, which also features dbx DriveRack 4800 processing. HARMAN HiQnet System Architect™ was employed for system configuration and monitoring.

The third floor of the Tabernacle also features a VIP lounge called The Room that features a main PA system of four VRX932LA Constant Curvature loudspeakers and two VRX918S subwoofers per side.

Davis noted that he had not heard the VTX system prior to the installation at the Atlanta Tabernacle, and pointed out that it’s a perfect fit for the venue. “When I tuned the PA for the room, I didn’t even have to touch the high end,” he said. “It was pretty much right there from the downbeat.”

“With the VTX system, you don’t have to struggle to get above the resonance of the room,” Lindsey said. “These boxes can also go really low and easily go all the way out to 16K.”

In addition, Lindsey noted the advantages of the Crown IT12000HD amplifiers, which feature the OmniDriveHD™ DSP engine (co-developed with HARMAN’s BSS), specifically optimized for fast and efficient audio processing. “What’s great is everything is in those amplifiers, they have the architecture in the amps all ready to go, which is amazing,” Lindsey said. “We have four amp racks—two at house left and two at house right—and each one has a rack with eight amps per side and four zones, with a secondary amp rack handling the front fills and subs.”

“If I had to measure the level improvement of VTX over the previous system on a scale of one to 10, I’d go with a 12,” Lindsey concluded. “The high-frequency intelligibility, what you really need to cut through the muck, is incredible. And the turnkey package of VTX with Crown I-TechHD is a hip combination. I can comfortably say the Tabernacle is now the best-sounding room in Atlanta.”

For more information on Sound Image, please visit www.sound-image.com

For more information on the Tabernacle, please visit www.tabernacleatl.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

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HARMAN’s JBL Professional Launches VTX Field Evaluation Program for Auditioning VTX Line Array Systems

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Monday, 12/3/2012

NORTHRIDGE, California — HARMAN’s JBL Professional today announced the launch of its VTX Field Evaluation Program, making a complete JBL VTX/Crown Audio VRack system available for sound contractors and potential clients to audition in the US. To launch the program, a complete system consisting of nine JBL VTX V25 per side, complemented by ten VTX S28 subwoofers, four VTX G28 subwoofers and a center cluster of six VERTEC® VT4887A is currently installed at the Madison Square Garden Theater until December 7 and VTX Listening Experience events will be hosted by Sigmet Corporation on December 4 and December 6—for further details and to register for either session, please contact Clif Barkalow at clifbarkalow@sigmetcorp.com.

The VTX National Field Evaluation System will then be deployed to provide partial support for “12.12.12 The Concert For Sandy Relief” at Madison Square Garden with featured artists including Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, Kanye West and The Who.

“With the launch of our VTX Field Evaluation Program, sound contractors now have an unprecedented opportunity to listen to a turnkey large-scale JBL VTX sound reinforcement system,” said Paul Bauman, Senior Manager, Tour Sound, JBL Professional. “Since its introduction, the JBL VTX Series has established itself as a new industry-standard line array and now people don’t have to travel far to hear VTX—we’re bringing it to them so that they can hear ground-breaking D2 dual diaphragm, dual driver technology for themselves.”

Brian Pickowitz, Business Segment Manager for Crown International added, “The VTX Field Evaluation Program is a great opportunity for people to hear VTX in action and experience the power, sonic accuracy and tight system integration that Crown Audio VRack and Performance Manager software provide as part of the turnkey VTX package.”

The VTX National Field Evaluation System includes twenty-four JBL VTX V25 line array speakers, eighteen VTX S28 and eight VTX G28 subwoofers, four Crown VRack4x3500HD and four VRack12000HD pre-configured amplifier racks, a 64-channel Soundcraft Vi1 digital mixing console, dbx 4800 loudspeaker management system, including all cables and accessories with system control provided by JBL HiQnet Performance Manager™ software.

The VTX National Field Evaluation System will be available from December 1, 2012 through June 1, 2013 and will be complemented by a number of Regional VTX Evaluation Systems that will be available for audition in East, Central and Western US regions. The program is intended to provide listening opportunities for system specifiers such as FOH/system engineers, consultants and sound designers while addressing audition requirements for A/V rental companies and fixed installations. Types of evaluations include regional 1- to 2-day listening events at larger venues; individual client evaluations at their facilities or a pre-determined location; evaluations at a live event, concert or trade show.

Raul Gonzalez, Field Engineer, Tour Sound, JBL Professional will coordinate the VTX National Field Evaluation Program and inquiries should be directed to raul.gonzalez@harman.com.

For further information please refer to:
www.theateratmsg.com
www.121212concert.org

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

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Firehouse Productions and HARMAN’s JBL VTX Line Arrays Help Global Citizen Festival Raise Poverty Awareness

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Monday, 11/26/2012

NORTHRIDGE, California – The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and many others rocked out recently in New York City’s Central Park for the Global Citizen Festival, a free concert highlighting the effort to combat poverty around the world. New York-based Firehouse Productions provided the live sound reinforcement system for the event, which featured HARMAN’s JBL VTX line arrays.

While the Global Citizen Festival was free, the estimated 60,000 concertgoers were only allowed to attend after accumulating points by watching videos on globalcitizen.org about various issues dealing with poverty. In addition to the musical performances, celebrities including K’Naan, John Legend, Katie Couric and economist Jeffrey D. Sachs delivered speeches during equipment changes.

For the main PA system, Firehouse provided 36 (18 per side) JBL VTX V25 fullsize arrayable line array loudspeakers, 32 (16 per side) VERTEC® VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers, with two VT4888 midsize line array loudspeakers for front fills. In addition, 48 (four clusters of 12) VT4889 fullsize line array loudspeakers provided delay fill along with 24 (12 per side) VT4880A subwoofers. Crown I-Tech HD 12000 amplifiers powered the entire system.

“This event was straightforward from a sound design standpoint, as with outdoor concerts many of the obstacles of filtering sound are eliminated, since there are no columns or walls that we have to worry about,” explained Mark Dittmar, Lead Design & Integration Engineer at Firehouse Productions. “The VTX line arrays continue to give us the sound quality and smooth coverage that we rely on and we’ve never had a problem.”

“The light weight of the VTX made the load-in and setup process a breeze,” Dittmar added. “The combination of VTX with the Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers is the best solution out there for live sound applications of all sizes and scopes.”

For more information on Firehouse Productions, please visit: http://www.firehouseproductions.com

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

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Sound Image Outfits House of Blues Las Vegas With HARMAN’S JBL VTX Line Arrays

by Definition Branding & Marketing Posted: Monday, 11/12/2012

NORTHRIDGE, California – The House of Blues Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay hotel is one of Las Vegas’ premier concert venues—and it just upped the ante with the installation of HARMAN’s JBL VTX Series line array. The House of Blues hosts major touring acts and will be home to a 2-year residency by Carlos Santana, performing his “Greatest Hits Live: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” through 2014. Sound Image of Escondido, California, designed and installed the JBL VTX system under the direction of Jason Schmidlapp, with support from Dave Kaiser of Sound Marketing West, HARMAN Professional’s regional sales rep firm.

The system includes two 13-box hangs of 10 VTX 25 line arrays and three VERTEC® VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers on each side of the stage, complemented by six ASB7128 subwoofers under the stage and six VERTEC VT4886 subcompact line array elements for upper balcony fill. In addition, a JBL AC18 compact 2-way loudspeaker and ASB6112 compact 12-inch subwoofer are installed in each of the VIP suites.

“The House of Blues Las Vegas had gotten to the point where it really needed to upgrade its sound system,” said Dan Schartoff, VP of Production for House of Blues Entertainment. “The VTX boxes were a bit larger than the previous system so the suspension points had to change, and we also had to work around the room’s upper balcony. We had to move the array stacks slightly upstage and offstage to keep the sight lines to the stage clear. As it turned out, this enabled us to give patrons a better view of the stage since previously some of the speakers were stacked on the stage underneath the flown speakers. The better, more focused coverage of the VTX line arrays enabled us to eliminate the on-stage speakers while delivering much better sound.”

The upper balcony was a large hurdle to overcome, Schartoff noted. “The two array hangs are fairly close to the balcony, so we decided to install the subwoofers in the middle of both arrays. Six VTX V25 provide balcony coverage with three VT4880A flown in the middle of the array and four V25 for floor coverage,” he said. “The 13-box arrays were carefully designed to fit the available space and the bottom V25 enclosure of the balcony section is at the same elevation as the first row of the balcony, providing excellent off-axis coverage. The subwoofers are in the middle and close to the balcony surfaces, which helps to reduce reflections while at the same time allowing for improved under-balcony penetration since the lower V25 enclosures have line of sight coverage to the back of the room.”

The loudspeakers are powered by Crown IT 12000HD and XTi Series amplifiers. Loudspeaker management is performed via dbx DriveRack® 4800 speaker management systems. A Soundcraft Vi1 digital live sound console handles some front-of-house mixing duties. “We used HARMAN HiQnet System Architect™ software to do the setup and installation,” said Schmidlapp, “which really streamlined the whole process.”

“We were eager to do an installation with the new VTX line arrays as soon as we’d heard about them, and we bid on the House of Blues job, which would give us a great setting as a showcase room,” Schmidlapp noted. “If you’re going to go big, what better place to go big than Las Vegas? At the same time we were contracted to do the install, Carlos Santana was looking for someplace with a younger, hip clientele for his upcoming residency and chose the House of Blues. The timing wound up being perfect for us.”

The installation makes Sound Image the first company to install a JBL VTX system. “What a perfect deal—now, Santana is being showcased with the newest pro rig on the market,” Schmidlapp said. “I think Santana’s pretty impressed with it. Wait until you hear it!”

“Carlos Santana performing through a VTX line array system at the House of Blues Las Vegas is a match made in heaven,” said Paul Bauman, Senior Manager, Tour Sound for JBL Professional, who was instrumental in providing onsite support during the installation. “This project was truly a team effort under the guidance of Dan Schartoff and his team at Live Nation, coupled with Sound Image’s expert design and implementation and outstanding support from Sound Marketing West.”

“I can honestly say JBL hit the nail on the head with VTX—I can’t say enough about how good this box sounds,” said Rob Mailman, Touring Operations Manager for Sound Image and FOH engineer for Santana. “It is very transparent, solid throughout all bands and does really well not leaving me fatigued at the end of a long and loud show.”

For more information on the House of Blues Las Vegas, please visit http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/lasvegas/

For more information on Sound Image, please visit www.sound-image.com.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,900 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

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