Allan's Blog..

  Wednesday, 18 February 2009

RevoStage® review


Revostage, another wonderful British product, we have purchased a few decks and took them out on a job last week, its great, three components, Top deck 18Kg, Risers 1' 9Kg and curtain, we plumped for the carpet top, there is also a rubbertop version, it takes about as long to get it out of the box as it does to put it up......unfold the riser (one man job!) put on top, tighten with 4 Allen screws, fit curtain just pops into the groove, then build next one and Allen screw them together. Ideal for a one man operation as one can carry it about on your own, and having built it when the client decides it needs moving, one man can drag 3-4 pieces in to position. RevoStage® has been independently weight tested to 1500kg per m² at 2.4 metres high. We would be happy to supply if you wish to hire or buy, full details-http://www.revostage.co.uk/ prices POA

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Void Acoustics Basys sound system review


Void Acoustics are a British through and through thoroughbred professional audio company based in Pool in sunny Dorset, they came to my attention about 5 years ago when a rival manufacturer mentioned them as a good source for higher end equipment than they could supply, we became a distributor, and have not looked back, we have installed and hired out Void with confidence ever since.
Our workhorse is the Void Basys PA System, it comprises of two 12"/1" neo. 300W ply tops and a pair of 15" neo. 600W ply bins, and a hoofproof 3 channel flightcased amp, which drives the lot via its internal crossover, and feeds the speakers via 4 core speakon leads, then 2 core to link into the tops, although the amp is rated at 1500W the balance is spot on and happily shakes the room with hifi quality sound.
Setting up the basic system should take no more than 10 minutes.

I have always found that the mixer we use with ours (Pioneer DJM3000) is turned down, and the system has just been ticking over, everyone who has hired it has been more than happy and at a basic hire rate of around £120.00 surprised at the value for money the system offers, to date we have sold around 8 of them to various clubs and bands, and not had a complaint, the build quality is as good as it gets, the finish is excellent, and the sound is true, very big and if anything can cause negative comments about the mix of a particular track, mp3 players suffer a bit as the lack of bass and compression shows up like a sore thumb compared to vinyl and CD.
Inputs are via XLR or jack, and there is a link through should you be running two or infill etc. It comes bagged up with all cables and poles to support the tops, there is also a road kit with casters and steel corner plates which when fitted makes moving the system about a doddle, it also will fit in a Fiat Punto sized car with the rear seats dropped!
We are on our third system, the first one was sold to a student band after it had done 2 years hard labour, and was looking slightly tired, they were delighted and not bothered about the odd scratch and ding, the second one is our run of the mill weekender, and the third is for posh party's where it needs to look brand new, although the combined 4 tops have come in very handy for outdoors work as they are quite water resistant.
The system handles live and DJ sounds with equal gusto, Bands love the full sound and vocal projection, kick drum's leap out of the building and keys, wind and strings all sound full and well separated, you never get a mush even when rushing the set up, not much eq is ever required, and tends to be more on the mixer channels than a separate 31 bander which we carry.
DJ sounds take off, there is good feedback resistance to vinyl, and even the screechiest girly vocal house tracks sound composed, D&B/R&B are where its at for me at present as there seem to be better production values in these genres, and I love a good production.
At present you can pick one up from us at just less than £2.4K inc vat and delivery, and as the North's leading Void distributor we offer dealers a further discount, either way this is a cracking system, offering value and balls all in the same tidy well thought out package, for me it is the benchmark, and the bench is very high!
Further tech and full Void catalogue etc visit their website at-http://www.voidaudio.com/product_detail.asp?id=46

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  Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Tannoy V8 speaker review


The Tannoy point source Dual Concentric V8 speaker stands alone in a very crowded market place, I had some i8's the predecessor for a few years and they served me very well, the V8 is a Ply shell with handles, 2 speakon sockets and is an all together different beast, although the sound hasn't changed that much, there is a slightly more crisp sound from the upgraded drivers, thus the clarity, particularly in the speech and awkward music ares is unsurpassed, there are other cabs which cost way more which come close, but Tannoys signature open, natural and uncoloured sound make them the sound engineers best Friend.
They are compact, light and easily portable, we have them cased in 4's which makes for easy get ins, and 4 will happily provide intelligible speech etc for up to 2-3 hundred people, I would suggest using a pair per 100 people, and as long as quality microphones are used very little EQ will be required, though you will always want to roll off the sub for speech on Mic channels to avoid the bingo bass effect, they are full range so expect very warm sub when playing music.
Overall they are great value for money, the build quality is spot on, and they look great too.
They are an asymmetric shape so they can be ceiling mounted with a relatively low profile, or of course sat on the floor for discreet stage monitoring applications.
There is a powered version which has digital amplification, but I decided on the passive model as we often run quite long distances between speakers, and this can cause earth loop problems or involves running two cables to each speaker.
If you are planning to use them for music, either disco or band PA I would recommend adding in a pair of VS-BP15 bandpass subs, this would obviously give you much more flexibility in the bass regions.
Of course if you are after something with a lot more power consider the V12/V12HP's or upwards, check out Tannoy's website for full details: http://www.tannoy.com/Professional.aspx

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  Friday, 6 February 2009

Roadshow in the snow!

Week one of a Roadshow we are running has been very good, despite the snow, which only became a problem when we went up the closed snake pass road where I ended up in first as the Merc-Sprinter's ASR kicked in for the last 100 Meters of the clime, and the anti lock on the way down, bit scary but amazing views!
The Job entails a 4X3 meter screen with a custom Foamex base panel (thanks to Ross at RSCNC http://www.rscnc.co.uk/ for building it) a matching lectern, PowerPoint, DVD, 8 Radio Mics and a Powervote system, this enables the audience to vote on keypads, the software is a PowerPoint plug-in, and is quite straight forward, it is a great system, it gives you bar graph slides of the responses and can handle hundreds of votes in seconds, then creates a file so you can use the data later.
We visited Manchester City's stadium, Birmingham's Villa Park, and Durham, with Leicester and Cambridge next week, there are 16 all together and although its hard work we have really enjoyed it.
The big Panasonic 5700 is doing a sterling job, I love it, set up is now down to a couple of minutes, it took a while to get used to the short throw lens as it needs to be in exactly the right place, or its keystone city.
We have just finished installing a PA system in St Roberts Church in Harrogate, 4 Tannoy V8's in white sounding heavenly, the system is for the Folk Musicians who play there, and to give some power to the CD playback.
It sounds fantastic, with very little echo, considering the size and construction of the 100 year old listed building.
Lastly we have moved to our new storage facility, just off Skipton road, 2 minutes walk from my house, which fits well into my drive to be greener.



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