www.psneurope.com April 2013 l 47
livereport 1993-2003
BEST PRODUCT: Y-AXIS ARRAY In the late ’90s, the modern line array had begun to dominate the touring market. Adamson was at the forefront of product development once more, filing a patent on the proprietary Co-Linear Drive Module. This filing led to the company’s success developing North America’s first line array, the Y-Axis. The co-linear module was an advanced waveguide that produced a curved, iso-phase, linear sound source, in both mid and high frequency and all but eliminated acoustical interference. “The only other line array available
at the time did not address the mid- range interference issues that are commonly found in line array designs,” says Brock. 1999 is the year that defined the company. “It took us 93 days from the moment we drew out the concept of Adamson’s first co-linear sound chamber on a napkin, to the delivery of the first Y-18 line array in France. It was one of those brilliant moments in a company where everyone pitches in. We had our production team working so late through the night that we ended up crashing at the warehouse. One night I used a pizza box as a pillow and woke up with a slice of cheese pizza stuck to my face… It was an amazing feeling pulling it all together in three short months and having the first box out the door. ”
2003-2013
BEST PRODUCT: SD-21 DRIVER/ T-21 SUBWOOFER “We built the SD-21 at a time when 21” drivers has a bad rap; they were judged as too slow and sound engineers had written them off. We changed that,” says Adamson. The SD-21 transducer employs a balanced spider suspension
Rigging Adamson Y-Axis cabinets in France
MILESTONE: THE MILLENNIUM “From 1999 through the early 2000s, Adamson really defined the company as marquee player in the loudspeaker market,” Brock recalls. “With the launch of the Y-Axis, we saw impressive global growth, with sustained double- digit growth through the decade. One big reason for that is our strong relationship with DV2 in France: they helped us establish Adamson as a dominant force in the European market. One pivotal and strategic move was their pursuit of a shootout for EML, between Y-Axis and the three other major line arrays on the market in 2001. It was clear to EML’s engineering team that the Y18 system had superior coherency, vocal performance and overall horsepower. This was all the proof they needed to begin investing heavily in the brand. Our rigs started showing up on some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals around this time,” Brock remembers.
with spiders at both ends of the coil assembly, resulting in “extreme stability” under high excursions. “This double spider design utilises a 6” dual voice coil and powerful neodymium magnet to achieve superlative sensitivity. It changed the way the industry thought about the 21” driver.” The T-21 Sub is the line-arrayable bass cabinet designed to provide superior sub-bass extension for Y-Axis line source systems, and incorporated the SD21 driver.
The line-arrayable T-21 Sub –stackable too
BIGGEST SALE Jesse Adamson, VP and director of marketing and sales (and son of Brock), remembers the mid-2000s as a time where the pairing of the Y-Axis and the T21 allowed the expansion of the Adamson support network. “Australian hire company Norwest Productions made a significant investment in Adamson Y-Axis and
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