Every once in a while I come across a product that I have such a good experience with I feel compelled to write about it. After years of experience with EAW's KF730 line array, and well over a decade of experience with most of their trap and sub products, I finally got a chance to use the KF760... their "big dog" line array. My application was a delay tower that I needed to get to throw "as far as possible". Doing some back of the napkin calculations I determined that I ought to be able to get 10kHz to 400' at concert levels (110dB+), which in and of itself is exceptional. That ought to get reasonable speech intelligibility (say 6kHz) to the rest of the field (another 500'). There are plenty of big dog line arrays out there that have relatively weak HF sections, and if you put in 15+ dB of boost at these frequencies it would make you pretty nervous. This may be fine for most applications where section-specific EQ is not being done and the far seats are covered by array aiming, but once you're past 300' this is no longer adequate. Not only does the KF760 have the ability to get it done, but it has even more horsepower in the critical vocal midrange. This is the kind of box that would let me deliver 110dB long term at 500', as well as 100'.
Kicking the Tires
Based on my work in the excellent Resolution software (which still wants to aim my array way too low, but it gives me a good starting point to play with) I believed the KF760 would do what I needed, and with the KF730 underfills I was provided I could dedicate the 760 boxes to long throw only. It's always nice to double check, though, so two days before the long throw gig I set them up in a Giant Concrete Box™ for TNA Wrestling. This event has a lot of loud announcing, some playback, but doesn't require flawless coverage or EQ and so if everything didn't go as planned the only people to notice would likely be myself.
I flew just 3 KF760s off a single point (which the software makes easy) and then hung 4 more KF730 under them using the recently released adapter bar. I aimed the array so that the KF760s would cover the stands, and the 730s the floor. The UX8800 has a program for this, 12x 760 + 4x 730, that made life easy. 6 amp channels per side is all you need for this array (low, low, mid, high, 730 low, 730 mid/hi) so two cables gets the job done. I might want a little more granularity for another situation, but in this case simplicity was the goal.
After a long day of setting up multiple stages I fired up this rig and played some music. I was immediately impressed. The 760s have serious LF output, and their directionality made dealing with this highly reflective room much easier. I normally try and hang a very long array in this room, but the all-horn-loaded 760 made getting that energy on the far seats but not the ceiling easy.
Not only is the box loud, but it sounds really excellent. The "EAW Focusing" does the trick once again, this PA is definitely one of the best sounding available. Couple that with huge output, more than many other large format boxes, with good efficiency and exceptional pattern control and I think it's a real winner. The directivity in the MF is especially helpful, reducing the off axis lobing that most arrays exhibit.
One of my favorite things about the EAW Focused products is they all sound very similar. That's certainly the case with the 760/730 combo, the transition was well handled and smooth. Considering how different the two boxes are that's pretty great. I didn't feel that I had to go in and do any level adjustment or EQ, I was done in that venue. David Karol mixed on it the next day so maybe he'll have a few comments.
Long Throw Day
The day of the "real" gig I had prepped to hang 10x KF760 and up to 5x KF730 underneath them (5 730 is the maximum the adapter bar says it will support). With the 760 being such a monster that's a combined weight of almost 3,000 lbs! The gig was on an air force base, and after clearing the checkpoint (where they checked the contents of our trucks and under the chassis, but not the generator we were towing?) I drove the truck full of delay stack gear out to the approximately 400' mark. I was comfortable beating the mains up to get that far, but I wanted to lean on something else for the rest of the field (another 800'+) which is why I'd specified KF760. A small crew and I got together to put up the delay.
Most importantly, for such a large, heavy, extremely high performance box it is easy to fly. I am a relatively large guy, but the other two helping me were David Karol and Laura Goodell, both of whom put together might weigh what I do. The nice thing about the 760 is you set your angles on the ground, and there is no weight on the pins. The boxes pin in to their carts, up to 4 per (which creates a flat top, so you can load them on the truck and then stack on top of them). Each cart is a half truck wide. All that needs to be done is pull and re-set a few pins and then lift. Boxes pick up to their set angles. Slide the next cart under, drop your flown boxes on top of it, set some more pins, and lift. All in all maybe 10 minutes of work to fly 10 boxes, and this was only the second time we'd ever done it. EAW's flying instructions are also excellent and help a lot.
The final array exceeded my expectations. I had to EQ out some low mid energy, because there was too much of it even 600' away from the array (by 3dB). The UX8800 had more than enough delay to line up this hang to the mains, and the ability to set the array's HPF was great as well since I dropped four ADRaudio ATA618C cardioid subs underneath it. Measuring the array to align it was easy, although I desperately need a Lectrosonics TM400 rig since laying out 500' of XLR is just stupid. It's not every day you need a golf cart to move your mic around, and then to listen to your coverage area.
The only issues I experienced were that, with the flybar I had, I couldn't use a far enough back pin setting to get any down angle. Boxes I intended to have hit 500' out ended up almost level. In the end this ended up not being a problem, and helped make the very farthest coverage work very well, but it wasted a little energy I could have painted the far seats with. I'll just claim I was putting it there in case the wind picked up.
The other issue was that, with a long and highly directional KF760 array above them, the 730s became a little unbalanced. First of all the wash underneath and behind the array came almost entirely from the 730s... not too surprising. I turned them down 6dB and was happy, that very close coverage was more a matter of convenience than anything else. No reason to be tossing energy around down there when the closest listeners were 50' away... being under the array with just the 760s on is a little spooky because you know they're just tossing energy out there, but you hear most of it coming back at you off the buildings 800' away, not off the array. While I feel under-hung 730s work well, they are a long way from the 760 in output and directivity so you have to be careful. In the future I think I will hang less 730s, since they're really just filling in the mids and highs up close. Their relatively wise vertical dispersion makes them good at this, but the 761 would be even better.
Long story short, I was nothing but impressed with the KF760. I will definitely be using more of them, since they shine in places many other boxes, even big boxes, are weak. They make me look good, they let me pull off tricks that would be worrying or difficult with other loudspeakers, and they go up and come down easy. I think EAW has a really excellent product here that is in another league from the mid-format boxes that are so ubiquitous, and even most large format boxes. Perhaps the reason I don't see more of them is because they are so powerful. With their size and weight and exceptional directivity you need to be well equipped to hang them in the first place, and then you can't go and hang just four. They offer up to three degrees angle, and you can fudge it a little by separating the fronts, but they will not do small box counts in smaller venues like other big boxes do. What makes them so good for this application is exactly what makes them unsuitable for big array curvatures. I am thrilled, though... having a box that does long throw high output and does it well is a breath of fresh air. A company that has both KF730 and KF760, with KF650 or 850 for fills, is very well equipped indeed.
Kicking the Tires
Based on my work in the excellent Resolution software (which still wants to aim my array way too low, but it gives me a good starting point to play with) I believed the KF760 would do what I needed, and with the KF730 underfills I was provided I could dedicate the 760 boxes to long throw only. It's always nice to double check, though, so two days before the long throw gig I set them up in a Giant Concrete Box™ for TNA Wrestling. This event has a lot of loud announcing, some playback, but doesn't require flawless coverage or EQ and so if everything didn't go as planned the only people to notice would likely be myself.I flew just 3 KF760s off a single point (which the software makes easy) and then hung 4 more KF730 under them using the recently released adapter bar. I aimed the array so that the KF760s would cover the stands, and the 730s the floor. The UX8800 has a program for this, 12x 760 + 4x 730, that made life easy. 6 amp channels per side is all you need for this array (low, low, mid, high, 730 low, 730 mid/hi) so two cables gets the job done. I might want a little more granularity for another situation, but in this case simplicity was the goal.
After a long day of setting up multiple stages I fired up this rig and played some music. I was immediately impressed. The 760s have serious LF output, and their directionality made dealing with this highly reflective room much easier. I normally try and hang a very long array in this room, but the all-horn-loaded 760 made getting that energy on the far seats but not the ceiling easy.
Not only is the box loud, but it sounds really excellent. The "EAW Focusing" does the trick once again, this PA is definitely one of the best sounding available. Couple that with huge output, more than many other large format boxes, with good efficiency and exceptional pattern control and I think it's a real winner. The directivity in the MF is especially helpful, reducing the off axis lobing that most arrays exhibit.
One of my favorite things about the EAW Focused products is they all sound very similar. That's certainly the case with the 760/730 combo, the transition was well handled and smooth. Considering how different the two boxes are that's pretty great. I didn't feel that I had to go in and do any level adjustment or EQ, I was done in that venue. David Karol mixed on it the next day so maybe he'll have a few comments.
Long Throw Day
The day of the "real" gig I had prepped to hang 10x KF760 and up to 5x KF730 underneath them (5 730 is the maximum the adapter bar says it will support). With the 760 being such a monster that's a combined weight of almost 3,000 lbs! The gig was on an air force base, and after clearing the checkpoint (where they checked the contents of our trucks and under the chassis, but not the generator we were towing?) I drove the truck full of delay stack gear out to the approximately 400' mark. I was comfortable beating the mains up to get that far, but I wanted to lean on something else for the rest of the field (another 800'+) which is why I'd specified KF760. A small crew and I got together to put up the delay.
Most importantly, for such a large, heavy, extremely high performance box it is easy to fly. I am a relatively large guy, but the other two helping me were David Karol and Laura Goodell, both of whom put together might weigh what I do. The nice thing about the 760 is you set your angles on the ground, and there is no weight on the pins. The boxes pin in to their carts, up to 4 per (which creates a flat top, so you can load them on the truck and then stack on top of them). Each cart is a half truck wide. All that needs to be done is pull and re-set a few pins and then lift. Boxes pick up to their set angles. Slide the next cart under, drop your flown boxes on top of it, set some more pins, and lift. All in all maybe 10 minutes of work to fly 10 boxes, and this was only the second time we'd ever done it. EAW's flying instructions are also excellent and help a lot.
The final array exceeded my expectations. I had to EQ out some low mid energy, because there was too much of it even 600' away from the array (by 3dB). The UX8800 had more than enough delay to line up this hang to the mains, and the ability to set the array's HPF was great as well since I dropped four ADRaudio ATA618C cardioid subs underneath it. Measuring the array to align it was easy, although I desperately need a Lectrosonics TM400 rig since laying out 500' of XLR is just stupid. It's not every day you need a golf cart to move your mic around, and then to listen to your coverage area.
The only issues I experienced were that, with the flybar I had, I couldn't use a far enough back pin setting to get any down angle. Boxes I intended to have hit 500' out ended up almost level. In the end this ended up not being a problem, and helped make the very farthest coverage work very well, but it wasted a little energy I could have painted the far seats with. I'll just claim I was putting it there in case the wind picked up.
The other issue was that, with a long and highly directional KF760 array above them, the 730s became a little unbalanced. First of all the wash underneath and behind the array came almost entirely from the 730s... not too surprising. I turned them down 6dB and was happy, that very close coverage was more a matter of convenience than anything else. No reason to be tossing energy around down there when the closest listeners were 50' away... being under the array with just the 760s on is a little spooky because you know they're just tossing energy out there, but you hear most of it coming back at you off the buildings 800' away, not off the array. While I feel under-hung 730s work well, they are a long way from the 760 in output and directivity so you have to be careful. In the future I think I will hang less 730s, since they're really just filling in the mids and highs up close. Their relatively wise vertical dispersion makes them good at this, but the 761 would be even better.
Long story short, I was nothing but impressed with the KF760. I will definitely be using more of them, since they shine in places many other boxes, even big boxes, are weak. They make me look good, they let me pull off tricks that would be worrying or difficult with other loudspeakers, and they go up and come down easy. I think EAW has a really excellent product here that is in another league from the mid-format boxes that are so ubiquitous, and even most large format boxes. Perhaps the reason I don't see more of them is because they are so powerful. With their size and weight and exceptional directivity you need to be well equipped to hang them in the first place, and then you can't go and hang just four. They offer up to three degrees angle, and you can fudge it a little by separating the fronts, but they will not do small box counts in smaller venues like other big boxes do. What makes them so good for this application is exactly what makes them unsuitable for big array curvatures. I am thrilled, though... having a box that does long throw high output and does it well is a breath of fresh air. A company that has both KF730 and KF760, with KF650 or 850 for fills, is very well equipped indeed.
