L-Acoustics K2 makes US debut at Florida’s The Gift festival

ESI Audio became the first sound reinforcement company in North America to put L-Acoustics’ K2 system into action on Boxing Day 2013.

The firm supplied the new line array solution for The Gift, a one-day electronic dance music (EDM) festival staged outside Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, offering deadmau5 as the headliner and an attendance of more than 12,000.

The system featured left and right arrays of 18 K2 enclosures each. To meet the low end requirements, three dozen SB28 subs were ground-stacked across the front of the stage in blocks of 12 – four wide by three high.

Two KARA enclosures perched on the centre sub cluster delivered front-fill, while two ARCS II cabinets on each side provided out-fill. All the speakers were powered/processed by eight LA-RAK units – each equipped with three LA8 amplified controllers running LA Network Manager.

"K2, in one word, is amazing," said ESI Audio president Erick "Otto" Celeiro. "The sound quality for The Gift was astonishing and the coverage was incredible at 400 feet linear through the plane. K2 is also the easiest system I’ve ever flown. V-DOSC has been my favourite box for many years, and K2 brings that familiar tone along with improvements in rigging, weight and flexibility.

"After the festival, compliments came in from all directions, including the promoter, video and lighting company, audience members and deadmau5’s production manager. Everyone was extremely pleased."

Although ESI has utilised many systems over the years, Celeiro has always held L-Acoustics in high regard. "We originally contacted the manufacturer with K1 in mind, but when the initial reports on K2 first came out, we were tremendously excited," he added. "Even before we saw or heard it, based on our love of V-DOSC and L-Acoustics’ track record of excellence, we were immediately confident that it was the right box for us – and it is. In fact, we’ve already submitted an order for 24 more because we very strongly feel that K2 is our future for regional and touring sound. This PA is incredible. It’s the best investment we’ve ever made."

The set-up for The Gift also included an L-Acoustics monitor package consisting of three KARA stacked atop two SB18 per side and powered by an additional pair of LA8 – a configuration that matches the specific rider request of Joel Zimmerman – aka deadmau5 – along with several other big names in the EDM world, L-Acoustics says.

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