Powersoft Rocks Perry Stage at Lollapalooza

	Six Powersoft K20 DSP+AESOP amplifiers powered 48 Martin WSX subwoofers at the Perry Stage at Lollapalooza.

Lollapalooza celebrated its 20th anniversary this year in Chicago's Grant Park, where the festival has called home for the last five years. Eight stages hosted live alternative music groups from 11am to 10pm with most stages providing non-stop music throughout the three-day festival. More than 100 acts performed at Lollapalooza including Eminem, Foo Fighters, Cold Play and Fuse.

Technotrix, a nationwide provider of technical production and equipment for major music festivals, special events, and touring productions, utilized six Powersoft K20 DSP+AESOP amplifiers to power the 48 Martin WSX subwoofers providing low-end bass at the Perry stage. The Perry stage was one of three stages where Technotrix provided sound systems and support. Perry stage headliners included Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Modeselektor, and The Glitch Mob.

"We have been trying out different subwoofer amplifiers over the past few years and have had marginal results," explains Alex Sostarich, system tech for Technotrix. "We jumped at the opportunity to use Powersoft amplifiers at the event. The ability to run so efficiently down to two ohms was a huge plus."

The K20 DSP+AESOP provides up to 18,000W in a single rack space, making it the most powerful model within the K Series, the most advanced line of power amplifiers from Powersoft. At the Perry stage, each K20 DSP+AESOP powered 8 Martin WSX subwoofers.

"We had what seemed like infinite amounts of headroom," Sostarich adds. "These amps are by far the most powerful we have ever used."

The K20 DSP+AESOP units allowed Sostarich to utilize Powersoft's Armonía Pro Audio Suite. The software's advanced grouping panel made it easy for him to manage the system while offering sophisticated input EQ for individual channels and groups with multiple layers and various filter types.

Sostarich also noted that the TruePower limiter function, designed to keep the amplifier's output power at safe levels, was something new that he found extremely useful. Active DampingControl also played an essential role by providing compensation for speaker wire current losses, dramatically improving cone control with virtually negative output impedance. He added that LiveImpedance monitoring was also employed and vital to verifying system integrity in real time throughout the three-day event.

On-board DSP was utilized for crossover, parametric and delay control. With a pre-existing redundant Ethernet network already in place, the Powersoft amps easily tied into the same network.

"One of the challenging aspects of the festival was the almost nonexistent changeovers between acts," Sostarich concludes. "Knowing we didn't have to worry about the power on the subs helped relieve some of the production stress."