Country music star Brad Paisley is currently in the final leg of his 2013 “Beat This Summer Tour” throughout North America, with Sound Image of Escondido, CA providing a system headed by JBL VTX line arrays and Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers.
The main system includes 44 VTX V25 full-size line array elements joined by 16 VTX S28 subwoofers, all powered by 40 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD amplifiers.
“When I first heard the VTX system, I was shockingly impressed. I was amazed by the sound quality when we first fired it up,” says Greg Hancock, audio crew chief for the tour.
“There were specific sounds that Brad was looking for because he plays in a distinctive style,” adds Brendan Hines, front of house system engineer. “We were able to accommodate that, because with its high-frequency range, the VTX offers a lot more detail than our previous systems.
VTX also enables extremely quick setup times, with patented S.A.F.E. suspension system streamlined for speed and efficiency with improved hardware for faster setup with fewer pinning operations and greater security.
“The flexibility and ease with which VTX is set up benefits us in terms of completing the necessary system configurations to control feedback,” Hines stats. “Having that much control over the feedback of the PA makes it much easier for tuning.”
VTX sonic performance is further enhanced by the Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers, with Hines noting, “The Crown I-Tech HDs are a huge improvement, their reliability is outstanding, the sound quality is phenomenal, and the flexibility it gives you as a systems engineer is awesome.”
Production manager Kevin Freeman concludes, “We’ve taken another step in the right direction.”