L-ACOUSTICS at Chicago Auto Show Since its debut in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show has grown into North America's largest automobile exhibition. As to be expected, many of the major car manufacturers were present at McCormick Place this February to show off their latest concepts and models, including Chrysler Group's Dodge and RAM brands, which collectively unveiled new versions of the Charger, Durango, and 1500/3500 trucks, among other vehicles. To maximize the impact of its February 9 press event, Chrysler Group again called upon Production Resource Group (PRG) to design, install and operate all technical production elements. According to PRG Chicago national account executive Melissa Powers, this included a full complement of L-ACOUSTICS loudspeakers and amplified controllers deployed by A1 Brian Bavido, A2 Jessica Kovach, and PRG Orlando project manager and staff engineer Mark Boettcher. Using L-Acoustics' SOUNDVISION modeling software, Bavido and Boettcher specified that left and right arrays of six dV-DOSC elements paired with a nine-element dV-DOSC center array be flown over the 125'-wide stage for the press conference. Low-end reinforcement was delivered via L-Acoustics' new SB18 subs flown four per side adjacent to the LR arrays. For delay throughout the enormous booth area, PRG created five zones each addressed by a compact array comprised of five KIVA elements paired with a single KILO low-frequency extension cabinet. Power and processing for the system was provided by L-Acoustics' LA8 amplified controllers. Bavido points out that he was particularly impressed with the new SB18 subwoofers' performance. "This was my first experience with those subs and they were absolutely amazing," he says. "Their compact size and captive rigging made them extremely easy to fly and the sound was fantastic. I had quite a number of engineers handling other press events tell me after the show how good they thought everything sounded, especially the nice, tight bass. It was really quite remarkable how well the SB18s managed low end in the space." Although Bavido would have preferred to use PRG's new L-Acoustics KARA enclosures over dV-DOSC, he notes that Kara has been "so overwhelmingly popular that we just couldn't get our hands on them for this project. Thankfully, PRG has already ordered more and I'm hoping to use them at the New York Auto Show in April, because they're at the top of my list." "The thing that never fails to impress me about L-Acoustics is that no matter what systems are being used--from the tiny little 108P all the way up to large enclosures like V-Dosc--all elements sonically complement each other so well," he adds. "There are plenty of other loudspeaker companies whose various product lines sound completely different. But with L-Acoustics, thankfully, I find that I have to put very little effort into making the boxes 'play nice' with each other in the same space." 
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