There are demo rooms, and then there are training sessions for the ear. The latter is on offer from SLS Audio (Demo Room N119), where timbre takes on new depth in demos provided by Rod Falconer, Pro Audio Sales Manager, Worldwide.
The speakers on tap there include SLS’ new SP212 compact portable dual-12-inch subwoofer and several top-notch offerings in the “speakers on a stick” category.
The new sub also comes in a powered version (the SP212P), which features a built-in Powersoft two-channel amplifier and a powered, processed NL4 output for an unpowered companion speaker. Pair the powered sub to power a passive speaker and click into one of four DSP presets, set up to work with the SLS 8190/8290, 114RT-PXO, CPC1210 or any ol’ speaker via the flat high-passed 80 Hz output.
Each of the SLS-powered pole pair setups is put to the test in the demo, which glides over several high-definition acoustic recordings that sound so lovely, “It reminds you why we’re all in this business,” enthused Jeff Lowry, SLS Director of Marketing.
Falconer really educates listeners with his guidance on listening, noting when “someone is doing some stick work in the background that’s not a part of this mix” or observing how the SLS co-planar line array makes audible the most minute of percussion elements: “Listen for the rhythm toys and the plastic tips on the brush as it moves across the cymbal.” Or on the next track, “Listen for the pick details, the draw of the bow across the fiddle.”
But the demo really knocked people over with a recording of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing.” When the room went quiet, Falconer said, “How many people knew there was a 60-cycle hum issue with that track?” To which a listener raised his hand and breathlessly said, “I have never heard that before.”
SLS also emphasizes the economy of its speakers, because honestly, we’re also here to do business. That’s the theme over at the QSC Demo Room (N101), where a big opportunity in business music is the focus. “These are the sounds that are making money for people,” observed Patrick Heyn, Director of Marketing at QSC. To serve this market, a wide array of loudspeakers from QSC’s AcousticDesign Series are featured, including pendants, surface-mount and ceiling models that are all sonically matched for a cohesive sound. The line also has a number of installer-friendly features designed to reduce “ladder rage.”
