How many times have we found ourselves looking at a new phone, TV, laptop, or any other manner of device and wondering how they packed so much into a package so small? As I stare down the Turbosound Flex Array, I found myself with this very problem once again.
A friend of mine here in town has been telling me about how cool his Flex Array is for some time now, but until recently, I've never had the opportunity to hear the thing. After using/hearing the PA a few times over the last month, I certainly wish I'd experienced Flex Array a whole lot sooner.
The Gear
Turbosound offers the Flex system in a variety of ways. It comes in a standard dispersion of 75×16, it also comes in a wide version at 100×16. Either dispersion pattern can come powered or non powered, Turbo also offers a single 18-inch sub enclosure that also comes powered or non-powered. All of the top boxes weigh in at a shade over 90 lbs., and the subs at about 160 lbs. At these weights, the line array is easily manageable with two people and it's even possible to be handled with just one man in a pinch. The tops are loaded with a pair of 10-inches, a 6.5-inch and the standard Turbo 1-inch horn.
As a system tech/engineer at a local soundco (HAS Productions in Las Vegas, NV), I'm always excited to find any product that's smaller, lighter, and altogether makes my job easier. My experiences with the Flex Array have definitely intrigued me when it comes to that whole making-my-job-easier thing. Not to mention the array travels in groups of three in a small case and is able to fly directly out of the case. The fact that the rig can be powered means that I don't have to clutter my truck or my stage with amp racks, which again makes my job easy.
The Gigs
The shows for this road test were in a mid-sized outdoor venue in Laughlin, NV – more specifically, on the roof of a parking garage. The seating arrangement was very shallow but very wide, with seats totaling about 3,100. The trim height of the roof limited me to hanging only six boxes per side, which meant that I need as much vertical dispersion as possible. The extreme width of the venue meant that I need as much horizontal dispersion as possible. For this gig I had the self powered, wide dispersion version. On paper this should fit the bill but, mind you, I've never used or flown this rig before.
As I get started, I find that Turbo has kindly used EASE as the program of choice for properly hanging the array. This is fine by me, as I'm fairly proficient with EASE. We (meaning me and the one other guy helping to fly the rig) removed the lid from the first box and attached the fly bar. On the fly bar, there is a threaded rod that traverses the center of the pick point. To adjust the grid angle, you only need to turn the rod, and it moves the pick point forward or backward on the grid, thereby changing the angle. Within minutes we had the rig floating, and then we proceeded to cable it. Each box has a Powercon in and a pass-through, which allows you to link several boxes on the same power run. The same goes for the signal – XLR in and out on each box. Once wired, the PA went up without a hitch, and we proceeded to make noise.
Once the rig was on, I was very impressed. For a double-ten box, it has surprisingly warm low end, and the high end is every bit your standard Turbosound. By this I mean a very brilliant high end that doesn't hurt. The SPL levels that we were achieving were also impressive. I was able to have SPLs that averaged in the range of 115 all across the main seating area. For the shows we were doing, this was excessive, but it was nice to know that the headroom was there if we needed it. I know that from the perspective of the small soundco owner, you want to know what the traveling engineer thinks about the rig, not just the system tech.
The two shows that it went out on were for Sara Evans and Michael Bolton. Both are acts that definitely needed to emphasize the vocals. Every mixer is going to want to have the band rocking, but still have enough room in the PA to get their artist's vocals on top of the band. I can say that neither of the engineers had any problems with making that happen. Both guys did very little EQ correction to the PA to make it sound to their liking and both acts were very satisfied with the rig after hearing it. So I would call this a win on all fronts. It's small, loud, easy to fly, easy to transport, not too expensive (considering it's powered), and it made the artist and crew happy at days end.
The other notable mention is the ability to network the PA via Cat5. This gives you the ability to have full system control at your fingertips. Each box has EQ, component gain and the like. Also, the system can be manipulated as a whole. Each box also has four EQ presets that are selectable by a button on the back of the amp module. One preset is factory and the other three are able to be changed.
At the end of the story, I can't think of anything that would improve on this rig, other than if it was able to fly and transport itself.
Turbosound Flex Array
What It Is: Compact line array
Who It's For: Especially suited for smaller soundcos where having extra hands on the gig is not the norm.
Pros: Sound, price, weight and as of flying and setup.
Cons: None
How Much: TFA-600H and TFA-600H/W (wide version): $6,199 (MSRP); TFA-600HDP (powered) and TFA-600HWDP (wide powered version): $8,599 (MSRP): TFA-600L (flyable subwoofer): $4,899 (MSRP); TSW-218 (dual 18" folded horn ground stack subwoofer): $5,999 (MSRP).
