Fresh from the Nashville’s Pollstar Awards where they were nominated for Sound Company of the Year, Thunder Audio President Tony Villarreal and Vice President Paul Owen have taken delivery of their company’s first L-Acoustics K2 loudspeaker system – one of the first sold in the US.
The shipment comprises 36 K2 and six Kara variable curvature WST line source elements, eight K1-SB and 18 SB28 subs, six ARCS II constant curvature enclosures and ten LA-Rak touring racks – each housing three LA8 amplified controllers. Thunder Audio’s principals made the decision to join the L-Acoustics family after listening to K2 at the manufacturer’s headquarters in France. Aware of the impact that L-Acoustics’ larger K1 system has had on the festival and touring industries, both Villarreal and Owen are optimistic about K2’s potential.
‘In the past, we’ve purchased large-scale systems based on the requirements dictated by a specific tour or application,’ Owen says. ‘This is the first time, however, that we’ve taken delivery of a product purely from the standpoint of feeling in our gut that it will be a success. Given the overwhelming reputation of K1 – as well as the more than 20-year legacy of K2’s predecessor, V-Dosc – we knew that getting in on the ground floor of this new system with such a stellar pedigree was absolutely the right choice for us and our client base.’
‘With its compact profile, surprisingly low weight and exceptional horsepower, K2 is perfect for so many of our customers – from corporate to touring to theatrical,’ Villarreal offers. ‘We A/B-ed it with the other four systems in our inventory and felt that it shined above and beyond anything else. We really have a sense that this is very quickly going to become the number one requested box on the market, and we’re so confident in that fact that we’ve already put in a purchase order for an additional 48 K2 for early next year, which is about the soonest we can get more seeing how popular they are right now!’
‘In addition to being terrific as a standalone system, K2 is also a great stepping stone for us potentially getting into K1,’ Owen says. ‘It would make a lot of sense for us to be able to repurpose our K2 arrays as side hangs on a stadium-sized rig, which is one of the big reasons that we began looking into it in the first place. We’ve had some prior clients that have requested L-Acoustics in the past, and with K2 – and eventually K1, perhaps – we’ll be in a position to give them both the service that has been our hallmark and the systems that they’re looking for.’
‘We feel that we’ve made a wise investment here,’ Villarreal adds. ‘The demand for the product is strong and the support we’ve received from L-Acoustics has been fantastic. It’s truly a winning combination.’
