Clair Brothers Adds Central California's Freestyle Events Services to its Growing Team of Production Partners

Freestyle Event Services (FES) is Central California's largest full-service event production and AV rental company. Their rapid upward trajectory continues with the recent decision to join the global network of companies that provide Clair Brothers industry-leading loudspeaker systems. FES's reputation has been built on a bedrock of production expertise and creative problem-solving. Treating every event as uniquely different enables the FES technicians and designers to think freely and deliver the versatile solutions clients have come to expect from them.

Meticulous research and hours listening to numerous leading sound system brands lead Freestyle to their investment in Clair Brothers. Jared Perry, partner at FES explains, "It became clear that Clair Brothers was the right choice after visiting the Clair Brothers facility in Pennsylvania. It wasn't just hearing the extraordinary sound quality of their C8 and C12 systems but witnessing the various stages of manufacturing and discussing the engineering that goes into their designs and realizing that if we had questions, we'd be talking directly to the people that design these speakers." "When we witnessed the precision, detail, passion and tradition built into their award-winning product," Joe Sorensen, operations manager at FES adds, "We were really glad Paul Hugo, principal at Marshank Group, invited us to visit and joined us on the tour." Leading the tour was Josh Sadd, Clair Brothers chief design engineer, and Henry Hissrich, Clair Brothers business development & sales manager.

"To be honest," continues Mark Perry, partner at Freestyle, "I was a little hesitant at first given Clair Brothers' rich history and position in the marketplace. I didn't think we could afford their products, but I stand corrected. When we ran the numbers this amazing system was priced well within our reach! In fact, not only did we not cut anything from our wish list, we actually added extra bumpers and racks to allow us to split the system up and it was still within budget. And since it's the same hardware to fly or stack the tops and/or subs we have total flexibility." Ultimately the decision was made to purchase twenty-four Clair Brothers C12 along with twelve iPS218 subwoofers. "On a technical level, this is the perfect system for our needs," says Sorensen. "The C12s use of coaxial mid-high components symmetrically located between two 12" low-frequency speakers just makes so much sense to us. Everything from 300Hz and up is coming from the same point source and being guided by the same waveguide. It's so good! In addition, the smaller C8 uses the same mid-high component so if we need to supplement our big rig with something smaller, we can still achieve the same sound character. Once we decided on the C12, the iS218 sub was an obvious choice.

"But then Paul told us about the iPal version, the iPS218. It's the same enclosure so it still flies or stacks with the C12 but with upgraded 18's and a customized Powersoft amplifier module that uses a pressure sensor inside the cabinet to know the specific movement of the transducers. It tightens the response, extends the LF and increases the output by over 3dB!" Adds Hugo, "The price difference is more than offset by the increased output. The improved sonic performance is like a free bonus."

"Clair Brothers for us is like two companies in one," describes Mark Perry. "They look at the market and design products that suit the needs of their customers like other manufacturers do. Clair's history also includes the biggest tour sound company in the world, so they know internally what it takes to play at this level. When a regional production company like us decides to buy a top shelf PA it's nice that we can partner with a company that doesn't just have great design engineers, they have FOH engineers, monitor engineers, guys that pack trucks, and guys that tech systems every night. Clair jams all that experience into their products. Our acquisition of this Clair Brothers system helps pave the path to our future. I look forward to seeing what we might do next with them. Great company, great people, great products."

Comments Jared Perry, "Amazing things are on the horizon!"