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| From X-Line Advance arrays to miniature high performance systems, Electro-Voice highlights breadth of portfolio across installation and live sound markets |
To highlight the breadth and quality of its full loudspeaker line, Electro-Voice has been traveling the country with the EV Road Show. The tour recently played the Ames Centre in Burnsville, Minnesota, home of the company’s headquarters. Area sound engineers, systems integrators, retailers and rental companies attended the two half-day presentations, offered to current and prospective customers at no charge.
Two presentations
The Road Show includes two presentations, defined by the size and application of the products. Inside the plush 1,014-seat Main Stage theatre, the main presentation focuses on the big picture, with demonstrations of larger-scale touring and installation speakers including the X-Line Advance and EV-Innovation lines. The performing arts centre’s atrium hosted demonstrations of smaller-scale products, including the ZLX, ELX, EKX and ETX portable PA systems, ceiling speakers and the EVID Compact Sound system. The new ND Series of microphones was also on display.
Electro-Voice has earned 174 audio patents since its founding in 1927, including core industry technologies like the constant directivity waveguide. To this day, Electro-Voice does all its engineering and testing in-house, and is home to the industry’s largest anechoic chamber. This culture of innovation has expanded under the ownership Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s third-largest privately held company. Dante-ready DSP products and patented advances like Hydra planar wave generators provide unique sonic advantages such as improved high frequency linearity and superior box coupling. One key application note revealed in the large-room demonstrations is that Electro-Voice leverages advances like Hydra throughout its product lines, providing the advantages found in tour-grade models like X-Line Advance for installation series like the Expandable Vertical Array (EVA).
EV-Innovation series
The large-scale systems demonstrations included the EV-Innovation series, ranging from the horn-loaded EVH and front-loaded EVF systems to the sleek, hidden rigging of the EVA, as well as X-Line Advance. This made it easy to experience the family resemblance in sound quality, allowing integrators and engineers to mix and match components like the ultra-compact EVU in applications like front-fill, delays and under-balcony.
Experiencing full-range sound quality
By using the Ames Centre as venue, attendees could walk the hall during the demos, experiencing the smooth, even coverage and consistent, full-range sound quality that is a hallmark of Electro-Voice system design. But the highlight of the large-room demo was anything but subtle. The X-Line Advance X12-128 is the most powerful subwoofer ever made by Electro-Voice. Participants’ pant legs were visibly blowing in the breeze created by these high-impact, state-of-the-art subs.
| "EV Road Show is briskly paced and customer focused, showing how the company’s engineering advances are thoughtfully incorporated across its product portfolio to produce superior value" |
The atrium display of portable PA systems showed why Electro-Voice has risen rapidly through the ranks in recent years to become a market leader in this product category, both in terms of sales and technology. From the power and ease of the best-selling ZLX-12P, untouchable at around $399, to the DSP and FIR-Drive control found in the 2,000-watt ETX, and with the ELX and EKX in between, there is a great-sounding portable system at every key price point.
The humble ceiling loudspeaker product category was another area where EV’s value-driven approach to engineering was evident. A head-to-head demo of four brands, all at the same size and price point, showed conclusively that integrators can offer clearly superior sound quality with Electro-Voice.
EVID Compact Sound system
Rounding out the Road Show were the EVID Compact Sound system, which pairs tiny 2-inch loudspeakers with a robust subwoofer, a combination with a sonic image that truly belies its size, and the next-generation ND Series microphones, which advance EV’s acclaimed N/DYM technology into an advanced, application-base group of vocal and instrument mics for live and studio sound.
Electro-Voice offers one of the largest loudspeaker portfolios in pro audio, with variations designed to meet any installation application in the retail, corporate, worship and education markets along with the X-Line Advance for both install and concert sound/touring. Unlike many manufacturer demo tours, the EV Road Show is briskly paced and customer focused, showing how the company’s engineering advances are thoughtfully incorporated across its product portfolio to produce superior value. It all added up to reinforce the brand’s promise to partners and customers: Any application. Every budget. We have the best-in-class pro audio solution for you.
