Toledo, Ohio-based Great Lakes Sound has added a 32-box Adamson Yaxis Y10 system to its extensive inventory. The sound company has been using Adamson products for more than a decade.
“In 1989, we purchased our first 24 Adamson 200 Series enclosures,” said Todd Mitchell, production consultant for Great lakes Sound. “Fourteen years and 48 Adamson 200 Series boxes later, we decided that it was time to invest in a line array system.”
In June 2002, the company took delivery of a 16-box demo system for evaluation purposes. “We wanted to use the system at a local festival that has an attendance of about 5- to 7,000 people,” said Mitchell. “Adamson went out of their way to design and build a custom rigging frame for the evaluation, as we needed to have the points side by side as opposed to front to back. We spent about three days with the system in our shop before the load in. When we first fired the system up, we took an SPL measurement. We were at 105 dB at the FOH location and the needles on the console were barley moving! The system actually performed as advertised. We were also impressed with the Shooter software and its ability to accurately predict the coverage pattern.”
Eighteen months later, Great Lakes Sound purchased the system. “Our decision to purchase the right line array system was crucial, as we are a small company and we have to watch every dollar that we spend. Marketability, ease of use, rigging, weight, good sound and cross-rental potential were all factors that we were considering. We will be doing sound for a symphony orchestra one day, a jazz festival the next day, a corporate function or a large disco party the day after that, so we needed a box that would adapt to almost every situation. The Adamson Y10 was the logical choice. It was small enough, it was affordable and it was a very musical-sounding system. We took a vote among our staff, and also from several other sound vendors in the area and, when it was all said and done, the Y10 came out on top.”
Since receiving the Y10s, Great Lakes Sound taken the system out on small local events around the Toledo area, one of the earliest being a large outdoor disco party in late June at the Centennial Terrace in Sylvania, Ohio.
“We flew eight boxes per side and used four subs per side,” said Mitchell. “The rig did extremely well. The venue manager said that it was the best sound that they have ever had.”
For more information about Adamson, visit www.adamsonproaudio.com. For more information about Great Lakes Sound, visit www.greatlakessound.com.
