Adamson sound reinforcement loudspeakers were of choice for heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP) during this summer’s U.S. tour.
This is the second year that they have opted for the Adamson PA provided by Escondido, California-based Sound Image.
The group co-headlined with Papa Roach and special guests In This Moment and From Ashes To New.
The tour played sold out arenas across the United States. Sound Image provided stacks and racks for the tour including 48 Adamson E15, 12 E12 line source enclosures and 24 E218 subwoofers.
Bruce Reiter, 5FDP front of house engineer and production manager for the tour, was instrumental in choosing the Adamson PA. After the success of last summer’s run, tapping Sound Image and the Adamson PA for the 2015 tour was a no-brainer.
“It is just about the same rig as last year except that it is powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers – which are recommended by Adamson and really made a big difference,” explains Reiter. “With the entire rig going at full tilt – 50 amps per leg – it sounds fantastic and the system is just humming along.”
The normal PA setup consisted of left-right arrays made up of twelve E15s followed by four E12s. Outfill was covered by two more arrays, this time each consisted of eight E15s with two E12s on the bottom.
Both the Adamson E15 and E12 are 3-way line source enclosures. The E15 is loaded with two 7-inch Kevlar Neodymium midrange transducers paired with two 4-inch high frequency compression drivers while the E12 features a single 7-inch Kevlar Neodymium midrange transducers paired with a 4-inch high frequency compression driver.
Two 15-inch (E15) or two 12-inch (E12) proprietary Kevlar Neodymium woofers add to the low end. The result is seamless mid-high energy with minimal distortion at very high SPL levels and substantial low end for most applications. A heavy metal band like FFDP needed a bit more low end, so Reiter had 20 E218 subwoofers flown, 10 per side, behind the line arrays, to keep the fans happy.
“I specified less subs than last year because I found I really didn’t need them,” adds Reiter. ”Last year I specified the system based upon other PAs I had used, but I found that the sound was so thunderous that I didn’t need nearly as many subs as I originally thought.”
Reiter notes that the Adamson system seems to “translate heavy metal music in a smooth and powerful way.” The ease of set-up and tear-down in another plus for the PA.
“I can have my 100 dB mix going and if there is a drum fill coming up, I can turn it up another 10 dB and not worry about it,” he concludes. “The headroom is tremendous and the sound is superb. We could not ask for a better system for the band.”
Sound Image’s director of Business Development, Jesse Adamson comments, “The 5FDP show is impressive both sonically and visually. Bruce’s mix on the E15 system has massive impact combined with great detail throughout the spectrum. It’s nice to see our friends and clients representing Sound Image so well. A big thanks to Bruce and everyone else on the team that work so hard to make this tour a success. It’s a privilege to be a part of it.”
