Bowers & Wilkins is lending its biggest speakers ever to the WOMAD festival later this month. The ‘Sound System’ active PA stack stands 3.2 metres tall and incorporates 36 drivers in 12 separate enclosures. These are Rohacel and Kevlar bass and mid cones allied to aluminium tweeters of the sort found in the company’s domestic models. At WOMAD this system will be used on the Society of Sound stage where artists include sound-scientists and audio pioneers The Radiophonic Workshop, composer David Holmes playing a DJ set and beat boxer Beardyman.
The ‘Sound System’ was originally created for the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona that took place in May but this is the first time it has been used for a public event in the UK.
Specifications
4 x low-frequency enclosures:
8 x 15” (380mm) Rohacell bass drivers
4 x low/mid frequency enclosures
8 x 10” (250mm) Rohacell mid/bass drivers
4 x mid/high frequency enclosures
4 x 6” (180mm) FST Kevlar midrange driver
16 x 1” (25mm) Nautilus Tube Decoupled Double Dome aluminium tweeters
Bowers & Wilkins’ Danny Haikin commented that, “Our presence at WOMAD allows festival-goers the opportunity to revolutionise their live music listening experience, while also challenging them to think about the importance of sound through various workshops, demos and interactive talks.”
Reason enough to go and enjoy world music in the Wiltshire countryside in our books. WOMAD 2014 is on 24-27 July.