Along with a name change, Wichita-based Sound Kingdom has expanded its L-Acoustics inventory with the purchase of six ARCS line source systems, four 12XT coaxials, and an additional LA8 amplified controller.
Now called Event Systems Inc, the company specialises in one-off events, festivals and theatrical functions. It is also L-Acoustics’ sole Certified Provider in the region and counts both the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (WSO) and historic Orpheum Theatre among its regular clients.
The new gear complements an existing equipment roster that includes 18 Kiva and six Kilo elements – collectively driven by a single LA-Rak – plus six 115XT HiQ coaxial stage wedges and two 108P self-powered enclosures.
‘We purchased our Kiva-Kilo system specifically for this year’s Wichita Symphony Orchestra pops concerts, which are held at the 5,000-seat Century II Convention Hall,’ says Event Systems Owner, Josh Gordon. ‘We had initially considered using Kara, but after running some acoustic models in SoundVision, we found that three Kilo and nine Kiva per side flown inline covered the room very nicely – even though I believe that this is now the largest venue that Kiva has been used on. Trumpeter Chris Botti recently performed there with the symphony and the show sounded fantastic. Music Theatre of Wichita also uses a Kiva-Kilo system for its summer season in the Century II Concert Hall, which is in the same complex, so the continuity from room to room is nice as well.’
Between WSO pops shows, Event Systems keeps a scaled-down version of the system in place at the 1,281-seat Orpheum Theatre, and supplements with its new Arcs for side fill, 12XT and 115XT HiQ for stage monitoring, and 108P for front fill.
‘Although the perception in America has long been that bigger is better, I’m finding that more and more engineers are really starting to embrace smaller boxes like Kiva and the 108P,’ Gordon says. ‘For example, when I recently advanced Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot for the Orpheum, their front-of-house engineer told me that he loved seeing sound companies finally starting to use smaller line arrays and using more boxes to achieve better sound and coverage, which is awesome. People are starting to grasp that these little boxes really do rock.’
In addition to being satisfied with its new L-Acoustics gear, Event Systems has been pleased with the manufacturer in general: ‘I think we may very well be one of the world’s smallest L-Acoustics Certified Providers, but I am extremely proud of that title and our relationship with them,’ he says. ‘We’ve worked with a number of other loudspeaker manufacturers over the years, and even though we’re a long way from being a big fish, the level of service and follow-up from L-Acoustics has been miles above anything we’ve ever experienced.’
More: www.eventsystemsinc.com
More: www.l-acoustics.com
