Eurohire's MW15 wedges also delight the monitor team

Capturing the intricate finger-picking style of Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel -- with the ability to faithfully reproduce the harmonics of acoustic guitar, and changing dynamics as he switches to electric -- would be a challenge for any PA system.

But Eurohire Sound and Light's first serious outing with its new EAW KF740 line array system brought out just such qualities -- fully vindicating the experienced touring company's decision to remain loyal to a brand that they have promoted consistently for two decades.

All 16 of Eurohire's newly-acquired KF740 modules, along with 12 EAW MW15 MicroWedges and UX8800 digital processing, were commandeered for the North European leg of the tour, which included dates in circuit theatres ranging from 1500 up to 3200.

For the most part, however, two six-element hangs proved sufficient to provide even coverage without colouration for the two-time Grammy nominee and his four piece band.

Eurohire MD Mervin George and operations manager, Jools Warren, were confident in the system's ability after attending the original system demo at the Anvil Theatre in their home town of Basingstoke. "For me it's got that amazing EAW rock and roll sound -- like a KF850 but offering double the power and half the weight," said Warren.

"The KF740 provides a lot of punch in the low-mid area; the top end also sounds really crisp but it's the bottom end, with its four 10in drivers, which is way superior to other systems."

In some smaller venues, where loading points and capacities were an issue, the combined weight of 47 kilos (including flyware) proved crucial.

 As FOH engineer, Stephen Law, explained, "99% of venues only had a single point per side for the PA with a 500kg weight limit. This was where the KF740 really shone -- as we could get the whole rig in there easily and cover the entire venue. It also made it easy to ground stack on top of subs."

Run in conjunction with EAW's dedicated UX8800 multi-mode processor for focusing the monitors and FOH system, Law had been particularly impressed with the KF740.

"There was a huge sonic advantage when using the system over most other PA systems. The extended low-end response meant we could use less cabinets but still get the punchy sound we required.

"The frequency response of Tommy's acoustics goes beyond most kick drums in the low end and its dynamic range is massive. It is a perfect way to check the headroom and frequency response of any PA.

"With the KF740 I found I was doing very little system EQ other than compensating for room acoustics -- his own acoustics I run flat on the EQ strip with no high-pass filter at all. The system was given a real workout -- but it was no problem for the KF740 -- even if we only had space for three or four elements per side."

Another engineer who was taken by the EAW sound was Colin Hounsome down in Monitor City, who described the sound as "absolutely superb ...the 15in plus 3in, biamped off a Lab Gruppen FP10000Q amp, using the UX8800 processor factory settings, provided a great combination."

 

Each of the five musicians is on a pair of the low-profile MW15 floor monitors -- with a further MW15 for the monitor engineer's listening wedge. "We were going to use an SB250 sub for drum fill extension -- but the LF of the MW15 was quite sufficient," he confirmed.

"For these shows the low profile of the wedge is also important because it's a seated show and the audience is interested in seeing what pedal boards Tommy is using.

"Every night he's walked offstage a happy man. These wedges are absolutely superb and I would not hesitate in using them on all my shows -- with that 10K Lab amp and UX8800."