A Yamaha dealer since 2014, PNTA has just purchased its first NEXO system: 14x GEO M620 boxes with associated hardware, 4x LS18 sub woofers, 3x NXAMP4x1 amplifiers with Dante cards, and a DTD controller with DTDAmp 4×0.7. This inventory is being teamed with Yamaha equipment including QL5 and QL1 Digital Audio Consoles, Rio3224-D in/out boxes, and a large stock of small analog boards, powered DXR speakers and DXS subwoofers.
“Earlier this year when considering our line array purchase, I modelled several representative event setups in NEXO NS-1 software,” states Lars Jorgensen, Custom Systems Designer, PNTA. “We compared varying models of speakers and subwoofers as well as different physical setups in the given spaces which helped instill confidence that the M620 could perform adequately in the wide range of applications regularly encountered in our business.”
The NEXO GEO M620 delivers high output from a very compact box (or entire array), appealing to high standards for event aesthetics as well as audio quality. PNTA Event Services Project Manager Max Pagel also emphasized that “purchasing such a compact system demanded less warehouse and truck space, reducing storage and production costs – a special consideration given the high-rent marketplace of Seattle.”
Two events were on the immediate radar when PNTA made its M620 purchase decision. The first was a series of eight high school graduation ceremonies for Seattle Public Schools, taking place in an outdoor setting at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center. Average ceremony attendance was 3000 in the stadium’s grandstands, with roughly 500 field seats. The GEO M620 was chosen for its versatility and capability of projecting quality audio to the upper-tier bleachers, with the addition of the 120-degree wide flanges and LS18 subwoofers benefitting the near-field seating.
“The compact size of the M620 speaker stacks in this distributed arrangement allowed the band and choir to become a part of the ceremony setup rather than ‘behind the scenes’, blocked by large array hangs on scaffolding as in past years,” says Pagel.
Two outer L/R ground stacks of 3x M620s over 1x LS18, plus 2x centre L/R ground stacks of 4x M620 over 1x LS18 each provided coverage of the grandstands. Graduates and faculty were seated on field where coverage was accomplished with 4x Yamaha DXR12 speakers. Audio was mixed on a Yamaha QL5 console, with inputs/outputs patched through two RIO-3224-D input/output boxes. The QL console, RIOs, and NXAMPS were linked via redundant Dante network.
The second outing for the NEXO system was a high-profile press event celebrating the Boeing Company’s Centennial, hosted by Alaska Airlines, and located outside on the tarmac of an active international airfield and testing facility. 12x GEO M620s were flown over 2x LS18s per side. A Yamaha QL1 was used for this event with two Rio3224-D input/output boxes.
“The slim profile of the M620 allowed us to maintain maximum field of view for event attendees and press, without sacrificing audio fidelity and volume in this high-noise floor environment”, notes Pagel. “The power of the LS18s was clearly felt throughout the event space, complementing the crystal clear mid- and high-frequency response of the M620s. We paired our Yamaha and NEXO equipment with Dante-enabled Shure ULX-D Wireless Microphones, allowing us to maintain an all-digital signal chain, reducing latency, and maintaining redundancy highly prized by media partners.”
The Boeing/Alaska Airlines event at Seattle’s Museum of Flight had a schedule that only allowed limited hours to deploy a sound system to cover a large parking area next to a working airfield. “PNTA’s choice of an integrated Yamaha solution made deployment relatively painless with high reliability,” said Steve Kennedy-Williams, freelance audio and video engineer. “We used the 12x M620 cabinets and 2x LS18 subs per side. The stage box was a RIO3224-D input/output box connected via DANTE to the Yamaha QL1 mounted in a rack at front of house.“
NEXO Amps were DANTE-enabled over a redundant network. “Using a prebuilt patch, we were up and running quickly,” notes Kennedy-Williams. “The NEXO array shipped in six-box cases, which were smartly built to allow six pre-rigged boxes to be flown right out of the case. Once deployed, the system delivered clean linear response with more than enough headroom for the event.”
For more information on PNTA, visit www.pnta.com.