Music, Sound, and Audio Technology
K-Array Makes Its Times Square Debut at AMC's "Mad Men" Season Premiere
By Staff
posted Aug 12, 2010, 23:57
"We chose to go with the K-arrays not only because they have an extremely smooth frequency response, but because maintaining great sightlines to the screen was very important--establishing a clear view for as many spectators as possible was fundamentally important for our client," Dan Zeo commented. "The KH4 and KS4, which were almost as easy to rig as a flat screen TV, were so thin that they were perfectly flush with the screen. We could not have achieved the same degree of visibility using a traditional array set up."
(New York, NY) On Sunday, July 25th, AMC's hit series "Mad Men"
made its fourth season premiere in Times Square. An impromptu movie theater
consisting of a very large screen and a VIP seating area was constructed at
the intersection of 47th Street and Broadway--one of the busiest intersections
in the world--just in front of the recently installed red bleachers. Barely
noticeable on either side of the stage were K-array's KH4 and KS4 ultra-compact
and efficient loudspeakers.
Philadelphia-based Zeo Productions, the live event production division of
The Zeo Group, was asked to handle sound for the event. The task was not without
its challenges: not only is Times Square among the most bustling areas in the
world, there was also rain and wind to deal with during set up. Moreover, the
application was unique. The sound system had to be small enough to ensure a
180-degree line of sight for live spectators, who were not only on the ground
and in the stands, but also in nearby buildings. Sonically, the speakers had
to be intelligible so both live and pre-recorded content could be clearly understood
by those in attendance.
Daniel Zeo, vice president of Zeo Productions, needed a speaker with an exceptionally
small footprint and a powerful sonic output. The self-powered K-array KH4 and
KS4 combination turned out to be the perfect match, since at 6 inches deep it
was remarkably thin, yet had a continuous output of 139 dB.
"We chose to go with the K-arrays not only because they have an extremely
smooth frequency response, but because maintaining great sightlines to the screen
was very important--establishing a clear view for as many spectators as possible
was fundamentally important for our client," Dan Zeo commented. "The
KH4 and KS4, which were almost as easy to rig as a flat screen TV, were so thin
that they were perfectly flush with the screen. We could not have achieved the
same degree of visibility using a traditional array set up."
The event was a huge success and was covered by international media including
The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Daily Mail in London, among
many others. On television, the event was viewed by approximately 2.9 million
people in addition to the roughly 7,000 people in attendance.
Aaron Garsky, a Zeo Productions technical engineer, summed up K-array's Times
Square debut: "Everyone I spoke to was very surprised that such a powerful
sound could come out of such a small box. All in all, the sound coverage from
top to bottom was really smooth. Outdoors, and especially in New York City,
there are all sorts of environmental challenges--including winds coming down
the skyscraper alleys. With the K-arrays, we were able to keep the audio present,
intelligible and controlled. In this application, any other product would have
been a step down."
K-array KH4
The KH4 is a self-powered PA system and line-array element that has a wide,
consistent (120°) horizontal coverage. The KH4 integrates seamlessly with
the KS4 self-powered dipole subwoofer and uses twelve 8-inch cone drivers with
2.5-inch voice coils for low-mid frequencies, powered by six power amplifier
channels. The mid-high frequency section uses five 1.75-inch voice coil compression
drivers mounted on 1-inch x 4-inch constant directivity waveguides. The drivers
form an array exactly in the center of the speaker, and a mechanical system
can provide different vertical coverage from 7° to 37° on each KH4.
All KH4 components are designed by the K-array R&D department and custom
made under the K-array quality control system in Italy.
K-ARRAY
The incredibly thin and lightweight K-array loudspeakers are manufactured in
Italy and distributed in the U.S. and Canada exclusively by Sennheiser. Despite
their small size, K-array speakers deliver impressive power and sound quality
for small, medium and large-scale applications, including touring, special events,
installed sound and broadcast.
Resources:
www.sennheiserusa.com
www.k-array.com
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