New portable "line array" from FBT (Vertus)

[dennis a]

 

Originally Posted by abzurd

As for how they are different than Bose. It's the same philosophy I guess as far as the whole "line array" thing.

 

Four horns mounted above six woofers does not look very line arrayish......not bashing, just sayin'.

[dennis a]

 

Originally Posted by abzurd

As for how they are different than Bose. It's the same philosophy I guess as far as the whole "line array" thing.

 

Four horns mounted above six woofers does not look very line arrayish......not bashing, just sayin'.

[Bobby1Note]

 

Originally Posted by Axisplayer

No worse looking than the new EONS and the incredibly ugly STX series. Someone who designed that stuff must have been on drugs. I wouldn't buy them at half the price.

 

 

Originally Posted by agedhorse

Yes, edgy (read as ugly) is the new "bitchin"

 

Prolly the same design team that did the Pontiac Aztek,,, the ugliest vehicle ever to leave Detroit.

[Bobby1Note]

 

Originally Posted by Axisplayer

No worse looking than the new EONS and the incredibly ugly STX series. Someone who designed that stuff must have been on drugs. I wouldn't buy them at half the price.

 

 

Originally Posted by agedhorse

Yes, edgy (read as ugly) is the new "bitchin"

 

Prolly the same design team that did the Pontiac Aztek,,, the ugliest vehicle ever to leave Detroit.

[abzurd]

 

Originally Posted by dennis a

Four horns mounted above six woofers does not look very line arrayish......not bashing, just sayin'.

 

I read as much as I could find and there is dsp that does some pattern control. You can add up to 3 of the columns and depending on if you couple the horns or separate, plus the dsp you select it supposedly has different properties. I'm skeptical, especially for the size/weight, that's why I'm not jumping in with both feet and assured myself a way out. FBT is no fly by night operation though so I'm hopeful.

[abzurd]

 

Originally Posted by dennis a

Four horns mounted above six woofers does not look very line arrayish......not bashing, just sayin'.

 

I read as much as I could find and there is dsp that does some pattern control. You can add up to 3 of the columns and depending on if you couple the horns or separate, plus the dsp you select it supposedly has different properties. I'm skeptical, especially for the size/weight, that's why I'm not jumping in with both feet and assured myself a way out. FBT is no fly by night operation though so I'm hopeful.

[dboomer]

So measure it. Play some pink noise (you can band limit it a bit) with your RCFs and this new system. Set the level the same in both speakers at say 3 feet and then walk backwards and see if you get more level at 6,12, 24, 48 feet with this "line array". Just mute one speaker and measure the other. At 24 feet the "line array" should now be 9 dB louder than the point source.

[dboomer]

So measure it. Play some pink noise (you can band limit it a bit) with your RCFs and this new system. Set the level the same in both speakers at say 3 feet and then walk backwards and see if you get more level at 6,12, 24, 48 feet with this "line array". Just mute one speaker and measure the other. At 24 feet the "line array" should now be 9 dB louder than the point source.

[Special J]

I was an FBT dealer when I was doing retail, and used FBT Maxx Series in our rental dept. before switching to QSC K stuff. I liked their stuff quite a bit.

I can't get excited about any of these little supposed micro line arrays. I've probably heard a couple dozen different ones over the last couple of years. The only one I've heard that I was even remotely impressed with was the Renkus one. Still, pretty expensive with limited applications.

[Special J]

I was an FBT dealer when I was doing retail, and used FBT Maxx Series in our rental dept. before switching to QSC K stuff. I liked their stuff quite a bit.

I can't get excited about any of these little supposed micro line arrays. I've probably heard a couple dozen different ones over the last couple of years. The only one I've heard that I was even remotely impressed with was the Renkus one. Still, pretty expensive with limited applications.

[abzurd]

So I just got it. The build quality seems exceptional. The tops are metal and subs wood (no plastic here). Still, I can't help but compare it to the Bose sticks. It just looks too small to do the job. I just can't see those tiny subs moving much air. Here's a comparison to my office chair. I am confident the speakers will sound better than my squeaky chair.

[abzurd]

So I just got it. The build quality seems exceptional. The tops are metal and subs wood (no plastic here). Still, I can't help but compare it to the Bose sticks. It just looks too small to do the job. I just can't see those tiny subs moving much air. Here's a comparison to my office chair. I am confident the speakers will sound better than my squeaky chair.

[rodclement]

Must request update!!!

Rod

[rodclement]

Must request update!!!

Rod

[abzurd]

Originally Posted by rodclement

Must request update!!!

Rod

Well, as you were posting this I was emailing my dealer. That sounds wrong. Anyway, I ordered another sub and top. I didn't have the luxury of an empty room to do pink noise or much testing beyond A/Bing with my current rig. I was impressed with the overall sound.

The subs- It's not the lowest lows you've ever heard for sure, but they are stupid small and light and have comparable output to what I'm using now. They're also pretty punchy. They'll get a nice thud with some EQ, but I'll need to back off if going for higher SPL.

The tops- The sound is clear and open. I kept A/Bing with the current setup and was trying to pin down what it was I hearing. They both sounded good, but I preferred the new guys. I dunno maybe it's just my G.A.S. kicking in. Everyone else in the band liked the sound as well. The snare in particular seemed to just pop out of the mix more. I tried to EQ both setups the same but never really got there.

One tricky thing with these is the high end is there is no vertical off axis bleed at all. You either hear the highs or you don't. It's a tight 20 degree coverage too so getting the speakers high enough not to be blocked by bodies means fairly poor near field coverage. FBT sells a tilting adapter, but they aren't available in the USA (yet anyway). So it looks like my only viable option is a K&M 19672. I'd prefer the other one K&M makes that allows any angle you want versus a fixed 15 degree tilt, but it doesn't have the off axis adjustment this one does, which is similar to the one made by FBT. The speaker is light and skinny, but at around 34", it's also tall so I think I need to really watch the center of gravity with it. So I'm hoping this is stable enough.

It looks like the covers haven't made their way to the states either, which is a bit of a bummer for the subs, but I've already found a convenient cover for the tops. They fit perfectly in a Gator GKB-49 keyboard soft case. In fact 2 will fit in side by side so I'll just find some foam to separate the speakers and will be good to go. We use these cases currently to carry our LED panels which are mounted to the lights.

Here's a video, which I understand tells you absolutely nothing. I was just playing around at home over the weekend. The song is actually a live recording of the band from a recent show. It's recorded with an Iphone and a Fostex AR-4i. Notice at around 1:02 I sweep the microphone up and down the speaker and you can hear the second it enters the path of the high end.

[abzurd]

Originally Posted by rodclement

Must request update!!!

Rod

Well, as you were posting this I was emailing my dealer. That sounds wrong. Anyway, I ordered another sub and top. I didn't have the luxury of an empty room to do pink noise or much testing beyond A/Bing with my current rig. I was impressed with the overall sound.

The subs- It's not the lowest lows you've ever heard for sure, but they are stupid small and light and have comparable output to what I'm using now. They're also pretty punchy. They'll get a nice thud with some EQ, but I'll need to back off if going for higher SPL.

The tops- The sound is clear and open. I kept A/Bing with the current setup and was trying to pin down what it was I hearing. They both sounded good, but I preferred the new guys. I dunno maybe it's just my G.A.S. kicking in. Everyone else in the band liked the sound as well. The snare in particular seemed to just pop out of the mix more. I tried to EQ both setups the same but never really got there.

One tricky thing with these is the high end is there is no vertical off axis bleed at all. You either hear the highs or you don't. It's a tight 20 degree coverage too so getting the speakers high enough not to be blocked by bodies means fairly poor near field coverage. FBT sells a tilting adapter, but they aren't available in the USA (yet anyway). So it looks like my only viable option is a K&M 19672. I'd prefer the other one K&M makes that allows any angle you want versus a fixed 15 degree tilt, but it doesn't have the off axis adjustment this one does, which is similar to the one made by FBT. The speaker is light and skinny, but at around 34", it's also tall so I think I need to really watch the center of gravity with it. So I'm hoping this is stable enough.

It looks like the covers haven't made their way to the states either, which is a bit of a bummer for the subs, but I've already found a convenient cover for the tops. They fit perfectly in a Gator GKB-49 keyboard soft case. In fact 2 will fit in side by side so I'll just find some foam to separate the speakers and will be good to go. We use these cases currently to carry our LED panels which are mounted to the lights.

Here's a video, which I understand tells you absolutely nothing. I was just playing around at home over the weekend. The song is actually a live recording of the band from a recent show. It's recorded with an Iphone and a Fostex AR-4i. Notice at around 1:02 I sweep the microphone up and down the speaker and you can hear the second it enters the path of the high end.

[Damien Quinn]

Heard these last summer in a music distributer in Dublin and I was really impressed by the sub. it give a hell of a kick out of it, But I just thought the sound coming from the column was uncomfortable to listen to if u were anywhere close to it. Sounded a bit harsh, maybe changing the eq could sort it out, but I read someone else found the same problem.

[abzurd]

Originally Posted by Damien Quinn

Heard these last summer in a music distributor in Dublin and I was really impressed by the sub. it give a hell of a kick out of it, But I just thought the sound coming from the column was uncomfortable to listen to if u were anywhere close to it. Sounded a bit harsh, maybe changing the eq could sort it out, but I read someone else found the same problem.

I just got the second sub/top and fired them both up tonight. I'm loving it. I can't believe what comes out of those pint sized subs. The tops do seem to benefit from a mid EQ dip from around 2-4K, but man the top end is crazy good. Detailed and not harsh at all. I've never heard high hats sound this good on anything (PA, home stereo, car, headphones, etc).

My main concern is the very narrow vertical dispersion. It's great for pattern control but the near field may suffer and I need to keep the speakers high enough so someone standing in front of the column doesn't block a significant amount of sound.

[Bryan316]

Can you DIY a reasonable looking stand? Get the tops up off the subs? Do they offer pole mounts so you can put them on pipes?

Can you get better low end frequency extension now that you have two subs? If you stack the subs, does it help the lows?

[abzurd]

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Can you DIY a reasonable looking stand? Get the tops up off the subs? Do they offer pole mounts so you can put them on pipes?

Can you get better low end frequency extension now that you have two subs? If you stack the subs, does it help the lows?

Hey, I've been quoted. That's pretty cool.

I do indeed have poles. That video was from last week. I'd just had a sub and top shipped to me but since I hadn't committed to keeping them, I didn't want to add poles to the order. They use threaded poles and I didn't have any. When I decided to keep I bought all the other goodies, poles, padded bag to store tops in, 10' powercon cables to run power from sub out to mains in, and 10' XLR cables to match. I'll lash them together. Right now I'm in the process of beating on my angle adapters. They are fixed at 15 degrees, which is too much so I'm trying to straighten them a bit.

While I could stack the subs, I won't run them like that unless I'm running the whole thing from 1 spot (the tops can connect together.

[drumstix]

Thanks for the update! I'm pretty interested in this system for my traveling needs. Looks like it would fit the bill nicely. If FBT can't get you the sub covers check out; http://www.undercovernyc.com/

Please post back after you have used them or any additional thoughts.

[abzurd]

I haven't decided what to do long term for protecting the subs. The keyboard case will be here this week. I'll post pics of the tops in it.

As for using the system, that will be a few weeks before I do it for real. This next week is a gig at a cool bar/restaurant with a QSC install PA. When they turn us up it sounds good, but for some reason they choose to keep the bands low then crank up the satellite radio during the breaks. We just give them a feed to the FOH and someone behind the bar turns a knob. Anyway, long story short, I end up bringing in part of our FOH because you never know what you're going to run into.

On the 19th we'll get to use the system for a rare January wedding so that's cool as the private gigs is really what I bought the system for.

[drumstix]

I hope to see both boxes at NAMM this year. They probably won't have any music playing though. No dealers around these parts too.

[vaughn4380]

So are you going to use these to replace your current setup on all of your gigs? Or is this more of a light-weight small-wedding/gig setup that is easier to transport when you don't need the big system? You have a pretty impressive setup with your current tops and subs, it says something if those will be completely replaced by this.

[abzurd]

Originally Posted by vaughn4380

So are you going to use these to replace your current setup on all of your gigs? Or is this more of a light-weight small-wedding/gig setup that is easier to transport when you don't need the big system? You have a pretty impressive setup with your current tops and subs, it says something if those will be completely replaced by this.

Yes, although I'm keeping the existing FOH, this will be the every day rig. What I have now is pretty good, but it's not not really all that impressive. It's just a band pass active 15" sub with one of the better "plastic" boxes out there. I'll be selling my "older" PA to my guitar player (RCF 322A over Yorkville E700P). Eventually I'd like to double up on the new FBT system and then would sell the RCF. Then I'd have a scalable, matched setup that would handle anything we'd ever need it to. As it is not I combine the other 2 for larger events.

Output of this system is not a concern. Last weekend I A/B'd it with my current FOH and it competes fine. If I have a concern it's the extremely narrow vertical dispersion. It's great for reducing reflections, but it's a compromise between near field coverage and getting the boxes high enough not to be blocked by bodies. I just finished bending the angle adapters to give the box about a 6-7 degree downward tilt. So that will hopefully help in small venues or where people are right up on us.