Lennox Foster, president of Sound Media, turned to the brand he’s relied on since 2009 when he needed the right amplifiers to power 1970s rock bands Firefall, Poco and Pure Prairie League during a concert at Pompano Beach Amphitheater in South Florida last summer.
Foster and the Sound Media team has used Powersoft’s equipment for nearly a decade and he knew the Powersoft X Series and K Series amplifiers would be the only fit.
“The X Series and K Series amps sound great, have extremely smooth response and are very efficient,” Foster says.
“Plus, they can run on any power source available. We like the X Series in particular because in our warehouse we don’t carry three-phase power. But with the Powersoft amps, we can set up and configure 120 and 220 until we get to shows that have three-phase power. Using Powersoft amps, we can arrange the racks to suit our needs.” [related]
In addition to installing a temporary P.A. system and the lights required for the performance, Sound Media powered the performance using a range of Powersoft amps, including 12 Powersoft X4 amplifiers, 18 Powersoft K2 amplifiers and 6 Powersoft K10 amplifiers — all placed at stage left.
“One of the things that we pride ourselves on is our ability to leave less of an energy footprint,” says Foster. “The current low power draw on the amplifiers is phenomenal — it’s extremely efficient. So, from a single-power source we can now power many more Powersoft amplifiers.”
Powersoft Alleviates Challenges
Due to its outdoor nature, Foster said the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre is very reflective. However, by choosing amplifiers with DSP processing on every channel, the unit’s features and clarity helped address the unwanted reverberations.
“By having the capability to have processing on every channel of the amp, we could achieve power shading easily,” Foster says. “Powersoft amplifiers help us to manipulate the sound with more granularity and precision.
“The single-rack space design is excellent and with their power density you can get a lot of amplifier in small places. Some of these venues don’t always have the accommodations for larger racks so the denser your power source the better you can fit into spaces which of course all production managers love,” he says.
