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Posted by hank alrich on 10/25/30 11:46
Ty Ford wrote:
> Like we need more players in the powered monitor market!
If they're of K&H caliber, bring 'em on!
> Anyway, they are here and at first blush (with many to come) I'm pretty darn
> impressed with them. Big sound from small, two way, drivers. Tweekable EQ and
> level on the back to adjust for room placement. Plenty of power. Fairly wide
> sweet spot if they are vertical.
> Small enough (6"w x 12"h x 6"d) to include in a video editing suite (yes they
> are shielded). Balanced XLR inputs.
> 58Hz to 20kHz, yes there is a sub.
> 50W amps for each; top and bottom.
> 107 dB/spl, in half space, 3% THD at 1 meter.
> THD <.5% @ 90 dB/SPL
> Anybody have any dope on them other than they're German?
Not that model, specifically, but everytime I go to AES in SF I wind up
blown away by the sound of _all_ the K&H line. I want a pair of O300
D's. Even on the convention floor, listening to a Janis Ian recording, I
felt like I could hear the singer's lips moving.
In early 2005 I bought a K&H TRA100, which is a "portable PA"; it's a
box just under 11" x 10" x 20", weighing under 20 lbs., with two 6.5"
woofers and a nice horn-loaded tweeter. It's bi-amped with an additional
"15 watt" powered output with separate level pot for driving an
auxiliary speaker. (Don't know where the Germans get those watts but
apparently theirs are bigger than ours. <g>) It has two mic/line inputs
on combo jacks, one transformered and one not, a pair of RCA jacks for
aux inputs, a input for the built-in facility allowing installation of
some RF receivers (they offer matching kits for Shure and Sennheiser
units), 3-band EQ, RCA line outs, balanced line out on XLR, a 6 VDC
output to power peripherals like portable CD players, and last but not
least, it offers remote operation via its internal battery, plus a 12-18
VDC input for additional power from an external battery. It'll run on
the internal battery for about 12 hours delivering voice, and over half
that delivering music.
Now, this doesn't exactly replace the Meyer UPA's, but for some gigs
it's ridiculously good. The sound quality is quite fine, dispersion is
lovely, efficiency is remarkable, and utility is unbeatable anywhere
it'll cover the job. Beyond solo work I'm using it for two trios I play
with, one an acoustic blues trio and the other an acoustic standards +
folk trio. In settings where close mics are needed for all sources I put
a little mixer ahead of the TRA, put it up on a stand, and feed a
monitor speaker with the aux output. (I've been surprised how well an
old Keele TL806 box built to EV's plans and loaded with an old JBL K120
works for this.) Sometimes, I'll cover us with a coincident pair of
cardioids placed low and in front of us. And sometimes the TRA100
becomes the front-and-center monitor system when running outdoors and
using the Meyers.
I was going to buy an AER Compact 60 (wonderful acoustic instrument
amp), but have wound up using the TRA100 as my amp in most situations.
It doesn't have an instrument input so I feed it with the Evil Twin and
the result is satisfying. The old Gibson A sounds better than it ought
to, given its Baggs saddle pickup, and the J50 sounds much like itself
running the K&K Pure Western pickup. I took this rig to Lance McCollum's
place <http://www.mccollumguitars.com> to let him hear the setup and I
think he liked it. Playing solo instrumentally I can put the K&H right
beside me so that sound from it is pretty well aligned with the natural
sound from the guitar, and get a result that is very near the holy grail
of "like my guitar, but louder...".
Mind you, it was not inexpensive and the dollar's heroic plunge against
reality has not improved that situation. Nevertheless, In any case I
feel my money was well spent on this Klein + Hummel piece. I find
unanticipated uses for it often, such as providing a lovely
single-point-source for checking mono compatibility in the control room.
I don't know what will happen with US pricing now that Sennheiser is
distributing K&H here, but I am glad to see that as perhaps now K&H will
get the hearing they deserve in this market.
--
ha
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