Phill Webb, AV technician at Revesby Workers, reveals that there were four speaker brands being considered for the upgrade but the Electro-Voice system promised to deliver the best 'bang for buck' and he hasn't been disappointed.
"I've used the EV XLC system at The Cube in Campelltown, which hosts similar acts, many times and I think it's a great system," said Webb. "I really like that our system has FIR filter drive and offers the ability to network the amplifiers so that they can be monitored front of house. Plus of course it sounds great! It certainly has more than enough grunt for the room."
Due to the age of the room it was difficult to find load bearing points in the roof so Saltec had HME engineer and build a ground support system for the arrays to hang off. The main PA hang comprises of six EV XLC DVX 90 deg boxes and two EV XLC DVX 120 deg boxes per side with two EV X-Subs per side mounted below the stage.
For fill there are four Dynacord VL 262 boxes; two are mounted on the inside of the proscenium and two are brought out and sat on the stage lip when required. Delay consists of four EV ZX1i 90W which are mounted above the balcony.
Drive for the main array is by nine Dynacord H5000 amplifiers with RCM 26 DSP cards loaded. The bottom two 120 deg boxes are shaded 6db to smooth out the near field. Two Dynacord H5000 amplifiers, again with RCM 26 DSP cards loaded, drive the subs. A Dynacord H2500 with an RCM 26 DSP card loaded drives the fills whilst another drives the delays.
"The RCM 26's are loaded with the latest EV XLC factory settings with FIR filters applied," explained Webb.. "In addition there is a UCC1 can bus interface at the FOH mix position to allow for the amplifiers to be monitored and controlled remotely. It also allows for a full impedance sweep of the system prior and after shows to ensure that all components are operating correctly and that each side of the system is responding the same."
(Jim Evans)