NEW YORK – Launched in the U.S. at the recent InfoComm08 exhibition in Las Vegas, and combining elements of line array theory with virtual point source technology in one product. U.S. distributor American Sound & Music took the Turbosound Flex Array on an East Coast tour. The first stop on the tour was New York City and Advanced Audio Technology (AATNY) where AM&S took part in a shoot out between Flex Array and another high-end manufacturer’s line array.
“This was the first time I had heard the Flex Array system,” says Joe Lodi of AATNY. “For such a compact size cabinet, the sound quality is very nice. The highs and mids are all really smooth.”
Lodi feels that the system has many advantages. “The size is extremely small for what it does,” he adds. “The cabinets are very nicely engineered and the rigging is easier than anything we have ever used.
“In my opinion, Flex should work very well in the U.S., just for the ease-of-use alone. It also does a lot for what it is. It is very, very, loud!”
Following on from the first stop in New York City, next on the itinerary was U.S. rental company Bauder Audio in Philadelphia, Pa. and AM&S's demo turned out to be an Average White Band gig, giving Bauder's Rob Stemple ample opportunity to hear Flex Array in a real life situation.
"The show went great,"” says Brad Stephens of AM&S. "They told me to expect 1,500 to 2,000 people and we had 5,000 show up! Twelve TFA-600H mid-high boxes (and 16 Aspect TA-890L double 15" lows) rocked the house, with headroom to spare.
"Brian at Bauder told me they usually fly nine per side of Aspect TA-890H at this venue and they were blown away with the output of those six little boxes hanging up there on the one, easy motor point."
"As far as the Flex Array goes… Wow!" enthuses Stemple. "What a great sounding little box. The amount of sound that is projected out of such a small package is amazing. Everyone on our crew was quite stunned by the sound. The fact that they sound just like the TA-890s, and that they were as wide as a three wide TA-890 rig was impressive."
"“To me Flex Array is a continuation of Turbosound's desire to build a high quality and good sounding speaker system, regardless of the point source or line array preferences that the public demands," adds Rick Bauder.
"I've progressed with the company from the TMS-4 to Floodlight, Aspect, Aspect Wide and now on to Flex Array. At every step the high fidelity approach to sound reinforcement was a prominent feature of Turbosound thinking. Flex Array delivers a smooth vocal range and the ability to raise the SPL level of the system, without changing the basic sound characteristics of the speaker, gives a home stereo quality in a commercial application."
Along with its easy rigging system, Bauder can see major benefits in the system. "The name implies part of the advantage," he states. "When you arrive on site with Flex Array, you can size up the conditions and use the same cabinets as either a line array or point source system without owning two completely different systems. The acoustic output of these boxes versus their small size makes jumping to a larger format speaker not as necessary."
The final stop on this leg of the tour was Soundworks in Virginia. Here, the demo was conducted at a 10-acre concert site located on a small island on the James River in the heart of downtown Richmond, a venue that Soundworks works at throughout each summer and is very familiar with.
Three Aspect TA-880s and two TA-500s per side were ground stacked to give a direct comparison to the six Flex Array TFA-600s per side, which were flown on each side of the stage.
"The sound of the TFA-600 is Turbosound – and that is a very good thing," says Soundworks' Founder and President Steve Payne. "It's very similar in voicing to the Aspect system.
"I was stunned by the output, fidelity and incredible reach afforded by bringing Turbosound's polyhorn technology and the new Dentritic device to a line array application. I was expecting it to be good – it was much more than that. And the rigging is very straightforward and effective, too.”
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