Marking its seventh year, the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas hosted both British artists and British equipment within the British Music Embassy venue. On the kit list were Allen & Heath GLD digital consoles, Lab.gruppen amplifiers and Lake DSP – but it was the use of Tannoy point source loudspeakers that was the biggest change over preious years.
Line array systems have previously been used at the British Music Embassy, but at the request of the promoter (Cato Music), Tannoy was asked to provide a system made up of Tannoy VQ 60s and VS 218DR subs powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers with Lake control.
Pairing Tannoy point source loudspeakers with Lab.gruppen amplifiers provided high-quality sound, even coverage and more than enough SPL for the 300-capacity venue. ‘But without filling the space up with road cases or bringing additional equipment and cabling in that would make the setup more complicated,’ says TC Group’s Colin Studybaker – an ideal situation in a room where space and power were at a minimum.
Consequently, instead of eight line array boxes per side for FOH, just two Tannoy VQ 60s and three VS 218DR subs, all powered by two Lab.gruppen four-channel PLM 20000Q amplifiers were used. Additionally, five Tannoy VX 12HP coaxial monitors (bi-amped with five Lab.gruppen IPD 2400s with one Tannoy VSX 15DR sub for drum fill) were used for monitors –providing intelligibility and coverage for the stage and eliminating the need for side fills. A Tannoy VX 8.2 placed on an exterior windowsill covered the audience in the street outside the venue.
Monitor engineer Chris Kmiec was particularly impressed with the wedges: ‘The VX 12HP’s are a clean sounding speaker straight out of the box and the coaxial configuration provides an advantage in a venue like this where – with a traditional monitor – you might require a pair of wedges for each musician.’
FOH engineer Fabrizio Piazzini also praised the Tannoy mains: ‘In this application, the point source loudspeakers were very smooth and allowed for coherence and a smooth transition from the entrance of the venue to the middle of the floor.’
The choice of Lab.gruppen IPD and PLM Series amplifiers fitted well with the limited power available in the venue: ‘We needed optimal power, but with as little current draw as possible because we had to tie in to 40A,’ Studybaker explains. ‘But the IPD 2400’s breaker emulation limiter allowed us to limit the current draw so we didn’t trip any breakers.’
In addition, the integration of IntelliDrive Controller software in the Lab.gruppen IPD amps, the fact that processing and amplification were included in the same units and the ability to monitor the system using Lake 6.1, allowed for optimal control for ringing out the monitors.
The system performed well, allowing the engineers and technicians on site focus on getting the job done instead of the infrastructure. Although this was the first year Tannoy and Lab.gruppen gear figured so heavily at the British Embassy, it is unlikely to be the last: ‘From what I’ve heard this was one of the best sounding venues of its size at SXSW 2014,’ Studybaker says. ‘So it looks like we’ll be returning to do it again in 2015.’
