AVECorp Go on the Road with MAILA

Through August and September, the crew from AVECorp brought their full product offering to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Each city was treated to a mini tradeshow followed by a product launch of LD Systems’ MAILA (Modular, All-round Intelligent Line Array), a compact, modular line array system. And they did it properly; not just the standard test tracks, but a full live band, in a real venue, followed by a DJ.

We dropped into the Melbourne leg held at Studio 52 in Heidelberg West, a complex that functions as both recording studio and live performance venue. “We wanted to run this roadshow in venues that represent and support the industry,” explained Ben Rawnsley, Wholesale Manager at AVECorp. “We didn’t want to run in a conference centre, or other plain venue we’d have to dress up. We wanted the venues to represent what we do, and have a bit of grit to them – like us!” The other stops on the tour were Brisbane’s Club Noir, Sydney’s Factory Theatre, and Perth’s Milk Bar.

“The idea of the roadshow is to bring AVECorp to the people,” continues Ben. “Rather than everyone coming to Melbourne HQ or a retail store, we wanted to show everybody everything we do in its entirety. We’re not just lighting, we’re not just audio; we’re one of the very few distributors that offer a turn-key solution for almost any application. What we’ve brought on the road is mid to top-end product that doesn’t get shown off very often. At other events, there’s a limitation on how much you can bring. This way, we can show more of who we are and what we do.”

And there certainly was gear in abundance, from across AVECorp’s range. “When we first packed the van and pulled out, the mudguards were hitting the road,” reports James Pavey, Business Development Manager for Victoria. “We had to pull some out and freight it to the first show in Brisbane.”

It turns out it was worth it. Two MAILA sales have already come off the back of the show, one into production hire and one into a basketball stadium installation.

Having been in front of several LD Systems products over the last few years, I’m surprised by how underrated they still are in the Australian market. The German brand is part of the huge Adam Hall Group, and consistently produce rugged, great-sounding gear. Out in the tradeshow section of the event, the excellent Maui 44 G2 portable column PA was there for the listening, and represents great value for money along with excellent performance. “It’s a column array with 15” sub and 4” voice coil, producing 1500W RMS,” observes James. “There’s nothing else like it in that space.”

Back in the main room, MAILA really shined. Its marketing tagline is “Some jobs require a big line array. For everything else, there’s MAILA,” and its totally appropriate. The config we listened to had two dual 15” subs, a column element, and five SAT elements per side (see MAILA breakout for tech details). The bass was full, the mid-range detailed, and the highs crisp. On giving it some stick, it had headroom for days.

“The first time I heard MAILA was at the launch at PL+S in Frankfurt, with a live band,” recalls James. “I’m very picky about mid-range, and the snare hits just hit you in the chest. The range and response is completely astounding for the size of the elements.”

On the Lighter Side

It wasn’t just the sound crew that had all the fun. Over in the lighting section of the trade display, AVECorp’s Joe Burdock was keen to give me a guided tour of new offerings from their lighting brands, including Beamz, Cameo, and Chauvet DJ.

The beamZ Kratos RGBW LED tube is battery powered, app controlled, IP65 rated, and available in a set of eight. Each tube is rocking 288 LEDs, has built-in WDMX, and has a run time of up to 20 hours on an 8 to 10 hour charge.

The Cameo OTOS SP6 is an IP65 spot/profile with a 600W LED light source. It kicks out 75,800 lux at a 7° beam angle, and the 130 mm front lets you zoom from that out to 50° without visible hotspots. There’s two gobo wheels, indexable 5-facet prism, 4-fold iris slider system and two frost filters. The fixture uses CMY colour mixing and includes an additional colour wheel with six dichroic filters + open.

The linear CTO correction allows infinitely variable adjustment of the colour temperature in the range from 2,600 K to 7,000 K. Thanks to the adjustable PWM frequency (650 Hz – 25kHz), the OTOS SP6 is also suitable for use with film and TV cameras.

Joe calls the Cameo ZENIT W600 SMD ‘the world’s brightest flood’, and given that my retinas are still recovering, it may well be. It’s a floodlight in the RGBW spectrum with an output of up to 41,000 lumens, equipped with 504 SMD LEDs. Like many fixtures on display at the show, it’s also IP65 rated.

Chauvet DJ’s popular Intimidator range has been given an update in the ‘X’ version of variants. Among them is the Intimidator Spot 360X IP, another IP65 rated fixture. It’s got a built-in RF receiver for wireless control using the RFC or RFC-XL optional remotes. Colours are 8 + white, with split colours and continuous scroll at variable speeds. It’s got dual rotating prisms, motorised focus, seven gobos, and uses a single 100W cool white LED as a light source.

LD Systems MAILA – The details

The MAILA SAT satellite speaker unibody aluminium enclosure houses five 1” tweeters in front of a 6.5” midrange driver, arranged in a coaxial design. The result is a classic line array radiation pattern with impressive throw and energy density. The horn-loaded 6.5” midrange driver with 1.8” voice coil and neodymium driver feature a split-path waveguide as well as a phase plug and enables a particularly high sensitivity in the midrange.

On the back of the housing of each MAILA SAT is a rotating handle which hides a groundbreaking innovation: via the patented EasySplay mechanism, users can adjust the inclination of each individual satellite continuously from 0° to 8°. The angle can be adjusted with just one hand, even under load.

For an especially easy setup, the passive MAILA SAT array satellites are equipped with the LD Systems SmartLink+ system, which ensures a cable-free connection between the MAILA SAT modules as well as between MAILA SAT and MAILA SPA amplifier module or MAILA COL column module. Both the audio signal and the power supply for the passive MAILA elements are provided via the robust aluminium rails. In addition, SmartLink+ allows the installed satellites to be detected for automatic or manual DSP processing.

MAILA SPA is an amplifier module with integrated 1.25 kW power amplifier with SysCore DSP for controlling up to eight MAILA SAT satellites. Via the SmartLink+ system, the satellites can be simply slid onto the SPA and wirelessly supplied with a signal. In addition, SmartLink+ enables automatic detection of the installed satellites for automatic or manual DSP processing.

The MAILA COL full-range column module has 4 x 6.5” woofers and includes a 4-channel DSP amplifier with 2.5 kW total power, which drives both the column itself and the MAILA SAT satellites. In this way, MAILA sets with a column module can not only be used as a ground stack variant, but also as a flown array consisting of MAILA COL and up to eight MAILA SAT – especially useful for festivals and fixed installations.

In addition, as with a classic line array, users can select different subwoofer arrangements and adapt them to the sound reinforcement requirements on site.

On the ground, the use of MAILA COL provides a further advantage: the interconnected column module allows ground stack sound setups that are significantly higher (up to 3.4 metres) than conventional systems and, with its greater throw, also enables uniform sound coverage in the far field.

MAILA SUB is a 2.5 kW 2 x 15” high- performance subwoofer. The acoustic concept of the MAILA SUB is based on a planar wave bandpass design with quarter-wave horn and symmetrical driver construction. By placing the two 15” speakers opposite each other, the MAILA SUB enables exceptional impulse compensation, resulting in a powerful and precise low-frequency punch.

The enclosure of the subwoofer is made of 18 mm thick birch plywood. The MAILA SUB defies the rigours of everyday road use with a hard-wearing polyurea paint finish. A total of six carrying handles ensure optimum grip during assembly and dismantling. For comfortable transport on longer trips, the optional MAILA SUB CB castor board is the optimal choice.

With LogoLink, LD Systems has added another innovation to MAILA. Via the free MAILA app (iPadOS), every MAILA system can be quickly, easily and precisely adjusted and wirelessly supplied with software updates. Once connected, the app automatically recognises the existing MAILA components and enables the system to be set up quickly and easily – including calculation of the SAT angles – in the run-up to an event. The highlight: the wireless antennas are invisibly integrated into the LD logo of the MAILA COL.

LD Systems offers MAILA in five sets, each with customised basic configurations and accessories: MAILA S, MAILA M, MAILA L, MAILA XL and MAILA XXL. While the smallest MAILA system (in the SMALL configuration) already delivers an extremely powerful, active full-range stereo system with 7.5 kW of total power, the large, flown MAILA XL and MAILA XXL systems will easily cover clubs, large conferences or halls, as well as medium- sized festivals.