EV XLD AND XLC COMBINATION ARRAYS IMPRESS AT THE GORGE AMPHITHEATRE, WASHINGTON STATE

As outdoor concert venues go, the Gorge Amphitheatre (near George in central Washington state) is among the most the most spectacular in the United States. As a House of Blues concert venue, the Gorge hosts shows by some of the biggest names in music, and relies upon the sound reinforcement services of Ford Audio to make sure things sound as impressive as the surrounding scenery looks. In keeping with House of Blues’ preference for EV sound at their venues around the U.S., Ford’s EV XLC rig is the house delay rig for shows at the Gorge. At a recent triple-header featuring 80s rock superstars Styx, REO Speedwagon and Foreigner, Ford’s XLC rig was combined with additional XLC and XLD boxes rented from friends Horne Audio, of Portland, Oregon, for use as the main PA. For this show, Ford tried an experimental configuration that incorporated four XLD281 boxes (from EV’s new X-Line Very Compact line) at the bottom of each 12-box XLC line array. Gary Ford explained:

“The XLD boxes and grids came from fellow XLC users Horne Audio (Portland, Oregon). We called Peter Horne to rent 16 more XLC boxes to use as the main PA for the Styx/REO/Foreigner show, and he suggested we pull a couple of the XLCs out of each main array and try four XLDs in their place. The idea was to use the XLDs as near-field fills with a little more down angle - and more drivers in the same amount of space - to help maintain a more even frequency response throughout the entire array. Horne Audio have successfully beta tested this configuration throughout the summer, and we were eager to give it a try - we even invited EV Director of Special Projects Monte Wise along to check it out and offer his expert opinion on the rig’s performance. Like us, he was impressed. Also on hand was Systems Technician David Caldwell from Horne Audio, who did a great job tweaking the rig.“

Ford continued: “The top of the hill that encloses the amphitheatre is nearly 500-feet away. The XLC delays pick up at 255-feet, carrying from 120Hz on up. Using the XLDs was really an advantage because it freed up 8 of the 12 XLCs per side to throw long range. The other four XLC boxes in each array could therefore be used to cover the midfield more effectively. This is a broad, asymmetrical venue, and, in addition to the house delays, we usually fly side arrays of five XLCs to cover the audience areas adjacent to the stage. Most of the tours that come to the Gorge need these side hangs to augment their touring rig. For this show, the wide dispersion of the XLC and XLD combination made a stage right side array unnecessary. There was no sacrifice in SPL, coverage or intelligibility, and the whole PA - 32 subs and 38 mid/high boxes - packed into the back of two 24-foot rental trucks. This really was a case of “less is more’, and we look forward to working with this configuration again.“

http://www.ford-audio.com

###

Electro-Voice (EV), is a professional audio brand of Telex Communications, Inc., a leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of sophisticated audio, wireless, multimedia, aircraft, broadcast and communications equipment for commercial, professional and industrial customers. Telex Communications markets its products in more than 80 countries under the brands EV, Telex, RTS, Dynacord, Midas, Klark Teknik and others.

Guy Low

Public Relations Producer

Telex Communications, Inc.

12000 Portland Ave. South

Burnsville, MN 55337

Phone: 952-736-3935

Fax: 952-736-4582

guy.low@us.telex.com

James Edlund

Public Relations Manager

Telex Communications, Inc.

12000 Portland Ave. South

Burnsville, MN 55337

Phone: 952-736-3901

Fax: 952-736-4582

james.edlund@us.telex.com