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A1 Ents add Massive JBL VRX Rig for West Country Shows
Since setting up A1 Ents in Bristol 14 years ago, Paul Wiltshire has built a growing reputation among tour promoters for providing top class sound reinforcement in the West Country.
Such has been the growing demand for his services that he realised he would need to add both quantity and quality to his inventory. His search led him straight to JBL and their VRX line array system.
"The acquisition was driven by the fact that I was getting stretched and starting to cross hire," he admits. "I knew my clients would be happy with JBL."
Paul has had a long acquaintance with Gareth Collyer - who handles JBL sales for JBL's UK distributor Sound Technology - and he initially arranged a demo system.
"We launched this at the Frome Festival and received great feedback," Paul reports. This was followed by the Harbourside Festival in Bristol and bands including Dr. John, The Twang, The Commitments and Scouting for Girls.
Converting his loan rig into a full purchase wasn't long in coming. A1 Ents now have around 40K of sonic capability - providing crowd coverage for up to around 4,500 - the result of taking 14 x VRX 932LA top boxes, eight VRX 918S (single 18" subs) and six SRX 728S (2 x 18" subs).
"We are still experimenting with the crossover settings - but I couldn't be happier with the rig; it delivers what it says it will - it's loud, clean and punchy and all we've had is compliments."
Central to Paul Wiltshire's thinking was the ability to field two side hangs of five or six VRX 932s with a further two forming a centre cluster. These two boxes fill any necessary gaps in the coverage and are run passively off a Crown I-Tech IT6000. The monitor system is powered by Crown XTI 4000 and XTI 2000 amplifiers, with processing handled in a dbx DriveRack 4800.
The eight VRX 918S subs form a single point source across the centre of the stage, flanked by two stacks of three SRX 728S. Said Paul: "The reason for the different types of bass bins was to offer more configurations for different sized shows, thus giving us more versatility." Crown's IT8000 provides the power for the VRX 918S, while the IT6000 drives the SRX 728S.
Since A1 Ents handle the complete production infrastructure and ground support - including stage lighting, stage management and roofing - an easy-to-transport and quick-to-rig PA is a bonus. "This system is a doddle," says Paul. "One man can rig it single-handedly. At the same time it's small enough, loud enough and manageable enough to handle 85% of our work, including corporate work. It allows us to do so much, simply because it is so flexible."
In Picture: A1 Ents MD, Paul Wiltshire with his VRX system.
18th November 2008
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