Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems announced the launch of several new products by NEXO France, making their debut at this year’s ProLight+Sound Expo in Frankfurt.
The new products cover all aspects of sound reinforcement, making innovative inroads into line arrays, networking, amplification, and system processing.
The STM Series loudspeaker cabinets are the first of its kind on the market. Developed for touring, festivals, and sound company rental, STM combines the best of NEXO Alpha functionality with the innovation of NEXO GEO waveguide designs to deliver a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use system.
The STM (Scale Through Modularity) concept enables line array systems to scale up or down depending on event audience size, from 1,000 to 100,000 people.
“We congratulate our NEXO partners for the innovative STM Series,” states Marc Lopez, marketing manager, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems. “With valuable input from end users, we are confident our customers will find the sound amazing, and the cost-per-box along with ease of rigging an enormous asset when deploying the new line array.”
STM systems can be configured from four discrete loudspeaker elements: M46 main, B112 bass, S118 subbass, and M28 “Omni” modules.
Configurations can comprise arrays of main cabinets only, or main plus bass, or bass plus main plus bass. The ability to add extra bass cabinets to the system in order to increase power and headroom without introducing unwanted phase anomalies makes STM unique, as it is the first vertical array system to offer scalable LF.
Deploying the dedicated subbass cabinets, either in the arrays or as ground-stacks, further increases the system’s options. The “Omni” fill speakers complete the coverage pattern, whatever the scale of the system.
The powerful bass cabinet has a frequency response of 63 Hz to 200 Hz, overlapping that of the sub and main modules, providing a valuable increase in LF headroom. The sub can achieve a similar SPL output to the NEXO CD18 unit using just one 18-inch driver. Two subs can be used back-to-back in cardioid mode, or side-by-side in omnidirectional mode.
The M46 main cabinet’s flat-membrane drivers insure complete, even, and full-range coverage over the entire 90-degree horizontal dispersion. HF frequency range remains completely linear using Kepton Polymer diaphragms that enhance tonal response and long throw.
The M46 incorporates 4 x 6.5 inch LF/MF drivers, 4 x HF compression drivers, has a 145 dB peak SPL, and a frequency response of 85 Hz – 20 kHz. Compact in size, the main cabinet measures 13.8 (h) x 22.6 (w) x 28.2 (d) inches, and weighs 121 pounds.
The B112 bass cabinet is outfitted with a neodymium high-excursion 3000-watt 12-inch bass driver with 4-inch voice coil and shares the same dimensions, weight, and gravity center as the M46. The hybrid horn-loaded design maximizes the efficiency of the driver, delivering 6 dB more than a standard front-loaded driver in this frequency range.
With a 1 x 3000-watt, +/- 3 cm excursion 12-inch LF driver, the bass has a 141 dB peak SPL and a frequency response of 63 Hz – 200 Hz. The B112 has the same dimensions and weight as the M46.
The S118 subbass cabinet has a neodymium high-excursion 3000-watt 18-inch driver. A bandpass load ensures SPL output equivalent to conventional dual 18-inch units. Peak SPL is 143 dB, and frequency response is 25 Hz – 85 Hz. The S118 measures 27.6 x 22.6 and 28.2 inches and weighs 187 pounds. The S118 can be flown in the array or ground-stacked in line and can run in omnidirectional or cardioid sub mode.
The M28 Omni cabinet is used for downfill and provides 120 degrees of horizontal dispersion and 0 to 15 degrees splaying angle between modules. The cabinet is loaded with 2 x 8 inch LF drivers, 4 x 4 inch MF drivers, 1 x HF compression driver, with a 140 dB peak SPL and frequency response of 60 Hz – 20 kHz. The Omni cabinet measures 9.2 x 22.6 and 28.2 and weighs 84 pounds. It can also be used independently from the M46 or B112.
The STM system has been designed to be ready for the road. The cabinets are injection-molded for maximum durability and weather-resistance.
Using a range of dolly and bumper accessories, the system can be prepped in the warehouse, loaded onto dollies for transport, and wheeled right into a venue. Proprietary PistonRig and REDLock rigging technology allows for one rigger to fly a 72-cabinet arena system very easily.
The STM cabinets are paired with the NEXO Universal Amp Rack (NUAR), which contains plug-and-play digital patches, real-time system monitoring and control network functionality in addition to two NXAMP4x4s, which together can power up to 12 STM loudspeakers, in groups of three.
NUAR includes a new dual-voltage version of the NXAMP and works in conjunction with the new Digital Meter Unit (DMU), an intelligent input patch panel providing digital communication with the NXAMP, and the new Digital Patch Unit (DPU), an intelligent output patch panel.
For inclusion in the rack, NEXO is offering a choice of network card solutions. Along with NEXO’s long-established NXES104 EtherSound network control, the company announces the new NXDT104 Dante audio plug-in card for the NXAMP enabling NEXO loudspeaker systems to explore the many benefits of a high-performance AVB-ready digital networking solution.
The NXDT104 will distribute digital audio plus integrated control data, automatically configuring its network interface and finding other Dante devices on the network. It can receive four audio streams (24 bits/48kHz) in Dante format, offers a dual port for redundancy and third port for additional remote control, and a direct connection to PC using the ASIO format.
In the near future, end users will be able to download from iTunes the first release of NeMo, an app for the iPad and iPhone that provides remote control over a NXAMP network from anywhere in the venue.
Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems will show the new NEXO STM System at the upcoming InfoComm 2012 show in Las Vegas. The system is targeted for late summer availability.
