With a combined 50 years experience serving the professional audio, video, lighting, and backline rental markets, Ken Kepler and Ed Di Bona have formed KD Productions, a full service audio-visual production and rental company serving the Atlantic City/Philadelphia markets.
KD Productions has recently taken delivery of RCF HDL-20 line arrays to service their growing list of corporate and touring clients. The purchase consists of a full line of HDL-20 enclosures and 8006-AS companion subs. They are the first company to offer this product in the AC/Philly markets.
Primarily focusing on corporate AV rentals and touring clients, the company headquarters is located in a 6,000 square foot warehouse/office space in Newfield, N.J. Since the company began approximately two years ago, they have provided rentals for shows in Maine, New Orleans, Orlando, Dallas, and San Diego in addition to the AC/Philly area.
Di Bona was an original founding member of ACIR Professional in Southern New Jersey, and most recently, held the position of technical director at The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. He is a front of house engineer (of late mixing for Al DiMeola), and was an operating owner of Downtown Audio. Prior to that, he was lead engineer/operations manager at TMP Recording Studios.
Partner Kepler spent over 12 years as the lead audio engineer and lead project manager for Showorks Audio Visual. Prior to that, he was an engineer/crew chief at Downtown Audio. He started his career early on as an engineer for TMP Recording Studios, where the two partners first met.
Recent corporate rental clients include Johnson & Johnson and Penn Mutual where KD provided sound systems, ClearComs, video projectors, screens, switchers, cameras, and lighting. Recent installations include Our Lady of Mt. Virgin in Middlesex, N.J. and Montgomery United Methodist Church, in Bellmead, N.J.
The company has a vast selection of rental inventory from professional audio gear such as Midas, Beringer, Sennheiser, Yamaha, QSC, and JBL to a stable of backline equipment including DW, Ludwig, Gibson, Fender, Ampeg, Yamaha, Nord, and Roland. Video and lighting inventory includes Sharp, Panasonic, Extron, and Christie, just to name a few.
“We heard the (RCF HDL-20) system on Fremont Street in Las Vegas and knew it would be an excellent addition to our rental inventory,” states Di Bona.
Kepler says the sound quality, ease of rigging, lightweight, and small footprint make it a perfect fit for the company’s business. “In the field, the sound quality and coverage have been exceptional, Kepler notes. We have flown the system outdoors, in theaters and ballrooms with both corporate and entertainment clients, and the results have been fantastic.”
Both partners agree that having a powered array has been helpful when space is a consideration, and the available rigging options make the system extremely versatile. “We are very happy with the new rig,” comments Di Bona, “and RCF has been a real pleasure to deal with.”