US production company Firehouse Productions added 96 JBL VTX V25-II line array elements, 96 JBL VTX V20 line array elements, and 24 Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers to its inventory – giving a total of 140 V25-II elements shared between the company’s New York and Las Vegas offices.
Firehouse Productions has long relied on JBL loudspeakers for events including the NBA All-Star Game and the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony: ‘We started working with a JBL VerTec 4889 rig almost 15 years ago and it became an important foundation of our business,’ says Firehouse Lead Design & Integration Engineer, Mark Dittmar. ‘When we heard a demonstration of the VTX V25-II, we were blown away by the sound quality. It’s the most accurate loudspeaker I’ve ever heard.’
The VTX V25-II is a full size three-way high-directivity line array element that includes a fourth-generation waveguide for improved long throw performance and wavefront control. The system’s D2 Dual Diaphragm Dual Voice Coil Compression Driver improves the sound and performance of high frequencies, providing an output advantage over conventional systems with significantly higher array power, reduced distortion, double the number of voice coils and more than double the power handling. This results in an increase in high-frequency sound pressure levels in the same physical footprint, with a 30 per cent reduction in weight. The V25-II waveguide provides better acoustic loading conditions for the D2 driver giving 10dB greater sensitivity above 10kHz.
‘JBL has been producing top-quality products for seven decades, and the VTX V25-II is another amazing step forward,’ Dittmar says. ‘The dB increase makes an enormous difference. The great sound quality and coverage we can now achieve in an arena or stadium really gives the big spaces an intimate feel.’
The company recently used its new VTX system at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, iHeartRadio Country Festival in Austin and the BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta.
