Adlib Audio, one of the UK’s leading audio rental companies, has just invested in a further twenty-two Lab.gruppen PLM Powered Loudspeaker Management systems including twelve of the new PLM 14000s. The purchase follows their initial order of twenty PLM 10000Qs last summer, bringing their total PLM inventory up to forty-two pieces.
Adlib director, Dave Kay, explained that the PLM 10000Qs were for the second phase of their monitor systems. “We started our monitor system upgrade last year with our initial PLM order. Firstly, we needed to upgrade our processing to a feature set capable of handling the ever-increasing demands made on our monitor systems. Secondly, we were looking for a lightweight amplifier that could more than match the low frequency output of our classic Crown VZ3600s. The PLM devices with their built-in Lake Processing resolved both of these issues in just one single unit, and have been extremely well received by all of the engineers that have used them.”
“In fact,” continued Kay, “the Dolby Lake Processor already forms the core of our FOH processing, so it made complete sense to use it on our stage systems as well. The Lake Controller is the most user-friendly interface on the market and most people already know how to use it, so the introduction of PLM on our monitor systems has been an extremely smooth transition.”
Regarding the PLM 14000s, Kay explained that they were obtained mainly to run subs. “They are the only amplifiers that really do what they say on the box and faithfully reproduce the input signal at the output of the amplifier without changing the sound – that’s what an amp should do, by the way, although not all do. We, at Adlib, under the supervision of engineer Tony Szabo, were heavily involved in the road testing of the PLM 14000,” recalled Kay. “Last November we first used them on Scouting for Girls and we were so impressed we asked to test them again on the recent Kaiser Chiefs Europe and UK arena tour. The technical support from the Lab guys has been amazing and they really understand how the amplifier and speaker work together. It is the only amp we have seen that does really work at two ohms with no compromise.”
Tony Szabo agrees wholeheartedly. “The PLM’s are at the pinnacle of amplifier technology. Whoever had the idea to marry the new compact Lab.gruppen amp technology to the advanced Lake DSP is a genius! We now have an amplifier that will be the benchmark for the next 10 years. They are a joy to have on the road.”
“We are up to our third tour using the PLM 14000 and have tried them on two major brands of subs. We get far more sub out of our speaker investment than ever before. To add to that we get more control and instant knowledge of what the system is doing. We heard the difference on the first show. We had to wait for the next show to hear it again to actually believe the difference was real.”
“Lab.gruppen have made it so easy to use,” concluded Szabo. “It was made for us, not for the guy in the lab coat!”