Innovation — and being first to break new technologies — isn’t always easy. History is filled with examples of pioneers who dared to try something “different” and out of the ordinary, when, years later, their principles were eventually accepted as the industry norm. And such is the case with L-Acoustics founder Dr. Christian Heil, who presented his research on Wavefront Sculpture Technology™ (WST) at the 1992 AES convention in Vienna and followed that up with the debut of the revolutionary V-DOSC line array two years later.
These days, line array systems are commonplace, but back then, convincing users who mostly equated that term with vocal columns was an uphill battle — at least until they had a chance to actually hear an L-Acoustics system in action. Over the years, L-Acoustics has continued to break new frontiers in sonic achievement, with products such as the ARCS (Arrayable Coherent Radial System) constant curvature arrays, dV-DOSC modular line source, the KUDO, KIVA and KARA systems, along with software developments, like SoundVision and the LA Network Manager — all intended to expand the state of the art in sound reinforcement technology.
So, less than a year ago, when L-Acoustics debuted its second-generation ARCS II — followed by its ARCS Wide/ARCS Focus systems earlier this year — it wasn’t too much of a surprise from a company that’s constantly pushing the envelope.
ARCS II
Although L-Acoustics is most notably recognized for its large-format line source systems like K1 and V-DOSC, two other product categories round out the company’s roster: small-format coaxial point source systems (XT and P Series) and medium-format constant curvature enclosures, including the newly-released ARCS products. Similar to L-Acoustics’ larger line source systems, ARCS II, ARCS Wide and ARCS Focus use a variation of the legendary DOSC waveguide technology to deliver extremely coherent coupling, with the added benefits of intuitive, adjustment-free, and scalable uniform coverage up to 360° for medium-throw applications.
Intended for medium-to-large rental productions for FOH or as fills in touring or fixed installations, ARCS II is a two-way bi-ampable system that employs the WST approach in a constant-curvature design that offers high-SPL (140 dB) performance. Inside the lightweight (110-pound) enclosure is a single 15-inch neodymium woofer in a bass reflex tuned enclosure and a 3-inch diaphragm neodymium compression driver coupled on a DOSC waveguide. Bandwidth is 50 to 20k Hz and goes down to 25 Hz with the addition of the companion SB28 subwoofer.
ARCS II dimensions are 17.3 by 32.3 by 25.7 inches (HxWxD) in the horizontal plane, and systems can be used in both horizontal and vertical arrays, with each box providing 60° by 22.5° dispersion. The cabinet is Baltic birch plywood in a gray-brown finish with a polyester powder-coated steel grill and fitted with flying hardware that integrates with ARCBUMP rigging for a vertical array or the BUMP3 structure for creating horizontal arrays.
The flexible rigging allows ARCS II to be rapidly configured as a tightly packed medium-throw FOH mains system, a center cluster in theatre installations, sidefill monitoring, flown/stacked center fill, stereo front fill, offstage fill, distributed systems or in delay applications for stadiums, arenas and large concert events.
An ARCS II line source is designed to deliver smooth coverage and tonal response that’s free of secondary lobes over the entire frequency range.
A single ARCS II has a rated RMS power handling of 600w (LF) and 100w on the HF side. It’s optimized for use with L-Acoustics’ LAB/LA-RAK system, providing a turnkey package offering amplification, DSP library and networking capability, active system linearization, intelligent transducer protection and remote control software — all in a rugged, road-ready touring rack.
The first North American ARCS II deliveries went to long-established Bay Area sound company Sound On Stage, which immediately employed them into a large system for a series of events last December by the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall.
ARCS Wide/ARCS Focus
Unveiled at this year’s Musikmesse/ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt, the ARCS Wide and ARCS Focus systems are also constant curvature designs for medium-throw use, but in a more compact package. The main difference between the Wide and Focus variants is the horizontal/vertical dispersion — 30° by 90° in the Wide, 15° by 90° in the Focus model.
Both the Wide and Focus models are two-way designs sporting a 12-inch weather-resistant woofer and 3-inch diaphragm compression driver on a DOSC waveguide. Frequency response for either is given at 55 to 20k Hz, dropping down to 32 Hz with the optional SB18m subwoofer. Max SPL performance is given as 135dB (Wide) or 137dB (Focus).
The two share 14.4 by 29.7 by 17.5-inch dimensions, with the main difference being the fact that the 38-pound Focus tapers to 9.9-inches on the rear, while the 36-pound Wide tapers to 5.5-inches. A side pole-mount socket is standard, for use as a single enclosure mounted horizontally above L-Acoustics’ SB18m or SB18 subwoofer.
Steel coupling bars allow rigging either into vertical or horizontal arrays using L-Acoustics’ WIFOLIFT or WIFOBUMP BGV-C1-compliant certified rigging hardware. Systems can be created from 15° to 30° on up to a full 360°.
More to Come
Even with the debut of these new loudspeaker products, the research and quest for excellence doesn’t stop. Just last month, L-Acoustics released software updates for its LA Network Manager (now at version 2.0.0.0), LA8 and LA8 Firmware v 1.5.1.2 and Preset Libraries LA4 2.2 and LA8 2.3 — all to tweak and expand the capabilities of its networking and control software. Meanwhile, the new ARCS II/Wide/Focus offerings reach out to new and existing users of L-Acoustics technologies in different applications and expanded markets.
For more information, contact www.l-acoustics.com.
