MARCOUSSIS, France — L-ACOUSTICS is pleased to announce the launch of its KARA/SB18 Pilot Program, having unveiled the concept at Prolight + Sound 2010 in Frankfurt.

The KARA/SB18 Pilot Program will primarily involve existing members of the L-ACOUSTICS Rental Network — in particular, dV-DOSC owners interested in advanced field testing of the new system for corporate and special events through to concert applications.

The initial companies taking part in the scheme are UK-based rental companies SFL and Plus 4 Audio, French events specialist Impact Evenement, Wilhelm & Willhalm from Germany, and global services provider PRG, all of which are located near L-ACOUSTICS headquarters and offices to facilitate close collaboration with the R&D team and technical support. Emphasis will be put on preset validation, system configuration and design, rigging, and general system set-up and operation. more

DALLAS, Texas — Dallas-based Onstage Systems is one of the latest touring production companies to embrace L-ACOUSTICS’ K Standard platform by purchasing 16 new LA-RAK touring racks, each loaded with three LA8 amplified controllers.

All 16 racks recently went out on the first leg of country music superstar George Strait’s 2010 Tour, which was performed in-the-round at 20 arenas and domes across North America. The LA-RAKs delivered power, processing and control for 72 V-DOSC and 48 dV-DOSC enclosures — split into eight arrays flown around the center stage — in addition to 16 SB Series subs and eight more dV-DOSC for front-fill. more

CCI Solutions updates church PA system with L-ACOUSTICS loudspeakers and amplified controllers

MONTEREY, California — CCI Solutions of Olympia, WA, recently completed the first phase of a full audio system retrofit at Shoreline Community Church, located in Monterey, CA. The primary accomplishment of this phase was the installation of an all-L-ACOUSTICS loudspeaker and amplified controller package. more

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — One of Russia’s largest rental companies, St. Petersburg-based Euroshow, has become the latest member of the L-ACOUSTICS K1/KUDO Pilot Program.

Photo: L-ACOUSTICS sales manager Peter Owen (left) with Euroshow’s Denis Vasiliskov

The company, which became an L-ACOUSTICS rental agent last year with the purchase of a KUDO large format line source system, has taken delivery of 48 K1 large format line source cabinets, 24 K1-SB subwoofers, an additional 36 KUDO cabinets and 32 SB28 subwoofers, plus 23 LA-RAK touring racks fitted with LA8 amplified controllers to drive the system. more

MOSHAV HEMED, Israel — L-ACOUSTICS is pleased to announce the appointment of Lightone as its new distributor for Israel. Lightone has extensive experience of the Israeli sound reinforcement market, and boasts a knowledgeable sales and technical team.

Photo: L-ACOUSTICS sales manager Tim McCall (left) with Lightone sales manager Tal Cohen

“Having previously worked with Lightone I am excited to renew my contact with them,” says Tim McCall, L-ACOUSTICS sales manager. “I anticipate that their appointment will open up new possibilities and markets to further strengthen the L-ACOUSTICS brand name in Israel.” more

BEMMEL, Netherlands — Dutch PA hire company Rent-All has become the latest European member of the L-ACOUSTICS K1/KUDO Pilot Program, taking delivery of 48 K1 and 36 KUDO large format line source cabinets, 24 K1-SB subwoofers and LA-RAK touring racks fitted with LA8 amplified controllers to drive the system.

Photo caption: (L to R) L-ACOUSTICS’ Tim McCall with Rent-All’s Rene van der Linden and Michel Roelofsen

The company, headquartered in Bemmel, provides dry-hire rental services to the Netherlands and Germany. It already has a large hire stock of L-ACOUSTICS equipment, including V-DOSC, dV-DOSC, KUDO, ARCS and coaxial speakers. more

COPENHAGEN — L-ACOUSTICS’ Danish distributor Moto Audio Sales has extended the system it installed into the Danmarks Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, adapting the venue for other uses including rock concerts.

Moto Audio Sales, which has worked with DR on sound design for the concert hall since 2004, initially delivered and installed an L-ACOUSTICS announcement system of KUDO line source and 12XT and 115XT HiQ coaxial speakers, as the venue was designed first and foremost for acoustic classical music. After completion of the concert hall, it became clear that there was a requirement to stage other styles of musical events. Last autumn, Moto Audio Sales was asked to redesign and extend the PA system to make it suitable for amplified music. more

MARCOUSSIS, France — L-ACOUSTICS has appointed Marc Benard to the newly-created role of technical support manager, amplified controllers. This new position reinforces the L-ACOUSTICS technical support department, which is now divided into three areas of expertise: fixed installation market, rental market, and amplified controllers and LA Network Manager products.

Benard joins the company with 10 years of experience in the pro audio industry working mainly in digital product management and technical support. His new role will be to educate and support touring and fixed installation clients in the use of L-ACOUSTICS’ amplified controllers and LA Network Manager. more

OXNARD, California — Rat Sound Systems Inc. of Oxnard, California has beefed up its inventory of L-ACOUSTICS K1 systems to a grand total of 64 with the recent purchase of 16 additional enclosures. The new line source array systems are on track to arrive in time for April’s Coachella and Stagecoach festivals, which will feature multiple K1-equipped stages.

The sound company has also simultaneously added three new LA8-equipped LA-RAK touring racks and six ARCS enclosures to its arsenal. These new acquisitions join Rat Sound’s previous supply of 18 LA-RAKs, 40 subwoofers (K1-SUB and SB28), and copious quantities of other L-ACOUSTICS systems like V-DOSC and KUDO. more

OXNARD, California — L-ACOUSTICS is pleased to announce that it has joined the Crestron Integrated Partner Program (I2P). The result of this collaboration will be the development of a Crestron Integrated Partners control module which allows the LA4 and LA8 Amplified Controllers to be controlled and monitored in an open-platform Crestron system environment. more