The new Outline GTO is a classic line-source loudspeaker which adds a further dimension to the capabilities of contemporary systems by providing far-field SPL and coverage capabilities that – according to the Italian manufacturer – are presently unequalled.
The principal advantage of GTO is the elimination of delay systems. Even for very large audiences, this avoids any possibility of phase incoherence between loudspeaker clusters. This allows the system technician to create a single, well-defined coverage area delivering incomparable seat-to-seat consistency, stereo imaging and intelligibility, particularly in the vocal range.
Using the combined output of a large number of individual transducers, a compact GTO cabinet produces high sound pressure levels in tightly-controlled horizontal and vertical dispersion patterns. A GTO element contains ten separate drive units – four high-frequency compression drivers each mounted on a patented DPRWG device, four eight-inch midrange drivers and two 15-inch low frequency drivers.
Prior to its launch, GTO has been road-proven on several European and American tours and events. Artists as diverse as BB King, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Rufus Wainwright and their production companies, have piloted the new system with consistent results.
Dowlen Sound used a GTO system at Colorado’s Mile High Music Festival in August 2010 as part of Outline’s ‘Early Adopter’ product introduction programme. ‘Outline GTO continues to exceed our expectations, and has really established Outline as one of the top players in the large format line array market,’ says Eric Satre, Dowlen’s Sales Executive and director of the company’s operations at the Mile High Festival.
‘We have a lot experience working in the high altitude, low humidity and high temperature conditions of the Rocky Mountains’ says Dowlen Sound President Bret Dowlen. ‘The GTO has output the likes of which we have never experienced before, especially under these harsh conditions.
Leading US production company Special Event Services (SES) has been using a GTO rig. ‘We have been working behind the scenes for several years with Outline in the development of this speaker system’ says Jason Farah, SES Vice President. ‘It’s a good feeling to see it come from concept to completion and know that we helped influence the creation of the product and the culture of the company. We were the first sound company in the US to take delivery of the Outline LAB 21 HS subwoofer. With the combination of the GTO and this sub, the two-year search for our next generation large format PA is over. This truly establishes Outline as a leading innovator in the professional PA market.’
The versatility of GTO was underlined when SES recently deployed its system at ‘A Night Of Hope’ with Pastor Joel Osteen at the 20,000-capacity Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. This was a major Christian event featuring a combination of praise and worship music for which SES used 15 GTO cabinets plus four LAB 21 subwoofers per side.
In Europe the GTO achieved a high-profile debut as Britannia Row Productions, used a large GTO system on the final leg of the 2010 Peter Gabriel ‘New Blood’ tour.
‘This tour was a wonderful proving ground for the GTO’ says Bryan Grant, MD and founding partner of Britannia Row Productions. ‘The system faithfully reproduced the complex orchestral arrangements of Peter Gabriel’s work in a variety of venues of different sizes and configurations. Having had several years of experience already with Outline product, notably the Butterfly line array, we were confident that the Outline team would deliver a great new product, which they indeed did. We were very impressed with GTO’s performance straight out of the box.’
More: www.outline.it
