installationnews UNITED STATES/EUROPE Amps and apps By Erica Basnicki
THIS YEAR’S ISE saw Crown Audio launch the replacement to its CTS series of amplifiers: the DriveCore Install range. As the name suggests, the amps
are based on Crown’s proprietary DriveCore technology, which integrates the amplifier drive stage into the power output stage fusing everything into a small chip, and include a power factor correctness power supply, which
is said to draw very little from the mains.
The company is offering six 2U models ranging between 300W and 600W and 2-, 4-, and 8-channel configurations; each of the amps is also available as a networked version. “They’re very efficient amplifiers and a really dramatic improvement in terms of reliability,” said Crown director of engineering and marketing, Marc Kellom. “They are all
Up to eight devices can be connected to the Crown USBX
bridgeable and capable of driving a 100V distributed system directly without a transformer and without bridging; it really is a compelling set of features.” Earlier at NAMM, Crown
unveiled the USBX that enables up to eight Crown XTi, CDi and DSi series amplifiers with a USB port (or JBL loudspeakers equipped with DrivePack DPDA built-in amplifiers) to be operated remotely using an iPad/iPhone via the Powered by Crown app. The app uses the same
protocols as Harman’s HiQnet System Architect, allowing users to import custom control panels for added functionality. n www.crownaudio.com
QFlex 65: twice as long as QFlex 48
UNITED KINGDOM
Tannoy goes long for QFlex 64
By Erica Basnicki
TANNOY’S QFLEX 64, the company’s newest – and largest – flagship digital beam steering loudspeaker array, launched at ISE this year. QFlex 64 features 64
individual drivers, each with its own amplification channel and DSP, in a 5.5m-high column enclosure – nearly twice as long as the QFlex 48 model. “The ability of any steerable column to control directivity versus frequency is proportional to its length,” explained
Philippe Robineau, Tannoy’s director of engineering. “As a result, what a QFlex 48 can do at 200Hz, a QFlex 64 will be able to achieve down at 110Hz.” QFlex 64 also benefits from a
new feature update, which applies across the entire QFlex range, providing two on-board steering presets. This will allow users to quickly reconfigure an installed QFlex column to an alternative coverage pattern with the flick of a remote switch (or via third-party control such as AMX or Crestron). n www.tannoy.com