Flamingo Audio Likes the Flexibility of the EAW® NTL720 Self-Powered Line Array Loudspeaker System
(Press Release | Posted 2009-12-03)
Flamingo Audio Owner Brad Walker comes from a music recording background, and his company still does plenty of that at their Seattle-area facility. But their real bread and butter these days comes from systems installation and live sound. As Walker puts it, “The installation work keeps us smart, and the live sound work makes us fast.” And for a company that has to cover as many categories of events as Flamingo Audio – from concerts to corporate, from government to tribal – the EAW® NTL720 Self-Powered Line Array Loudspeaker System has been a versatile solution. Walker first acquired his NTL720 boxes a year-and-a-half ago, and they’ve been in constant use ever since.
“We really like the physical form factor of the NTL720, as well as the way it sounds,” says Walker, who notes that the NTL720’s compact dimensions, flexible mounting possibilities and scalable deployment let it be used in a wide range of situations. For instance, at the Kitsap Arts & Crafts Festival, which attracts over 50,000 people each year, Flamingo Audio used 16 NTL720 boxes, set up eight per side on a stage that hosted music acts ranging from brass bands to rock bands to a flamenco guitarist. “The system had to cover a music performance area of about 1,000 people and cover all these types of music without sounding hyped,” he explains. “The NTL720 performed flawlessly for every genre on that stage.” For the University of Puget Sound’s last two annual commencement ceremonies, 12 NTL720 boxes per side easily covered an event attended by an estimated 8,000 people, with EAW NT29 Self-Powered Full-Range Loudspeakers used as fills. “The last two years with NTL720s required very minor system EQ during setup, which is a good thing – we never get a soundcheck with the actual people speaking, and hear them for the first time with the rest of the audience.” he says.
The NTL720 turned in the same flawless performance when the Suquamish Tribe hosted the 2009 Tribal Canoe Journey, where eight NTL720s covered a 5-acre food and gathering area with a single cluster, and for U.S. Navy change-of-command ceremonies, where, as Walker jokes, “You cannot even think of making a mistake.” Citing the NTL720’s consistently great sound in such varied environments and how its captive rigging allows it go up quickly and safely, Walker says the NTL720 has been a huge help for his business. “It’s a great box for so many reasons,” he says. “I can’t imagine where we can’t use them.”
About the NTL720
The EAW NTL720 is a self-powered line array loudspeaker system featuring a true three-way design and numerous other EAW-patented and -proprietary technologies housed in an extremely compact (9.4” x 24” x 14.3”) and low-weight (less than 50 pounds) package. The entire enclosure face of each NTL720 module is filled by a full-sized mid/high horn providing 110-degree (horizontal) by 12-degree (vertical) dispersion. The extreme horn size insures broadband pattern control throughout the entire MF/HF pass-band. High frequencies are produced by six 1-inch dome tweeters, configured in two vertical columns (each with three tweeters) mounted on a manifold that feeds a single slot in the center of the horn, highly effective in controlling vertical dispersion. Flanking the HF section, dual 6-inch cone woofers handle the MF range, also loading on to the horn, with minimal space between the MF and HF components enhancing coherency and improving overall off-axis response. The LF section features EAW’s proprietary Phase Aligned approach, first deployed in KF730 Series line arrays. Both 6-inch LF drivers are positioned in a side-mounted “figure-8” configuration that extends horizontal pattern control while directing more acoustical en
