After a successful public beta program and an InfoComm preview, VUE Audiotechnik has officially announced their new al-8 Compact Line Array system.
Shipping this fall, the al-8 joins the al-4 Subcompact Line Array System, making the al-8 the second in VUE's al-Class. The al-8 features beryllium compression drivers, Kevlar/Neodynium transducers, onboard networking and full compatibility with VUEPoint beam-steering technology.
The al-8 system components include flying, transport and handling accessories, the al-8 acoustic element and the rack-mount V6 Systems Engine, which provides system amplification, DSP and networking capabilities via the SystemVUE control software.
The al-8 acoustic element houses a pair of proprietary 8-inch LF transducers with large 3-inch voice coils for improved thermal performance. The LF transducers flank four 4-inch Kevlar/Neodymium mid-range units equipped with VUE’s unique lateral acoustic shades. High frequencies are delivered by a pair of neodymium compression drivers with Truextent beryllium diaphragms for extended high-frequency response beyond 25kHz.
All transducers are housed in a birch plywood enclosure protected by a 12-step Dura-Coat LX finish. Integrated flying hardware allows quick assembly of arrays of up to 16 elements per flybar. Rear panel I/O includes a pair of NL8 connectors configured to allow discrete access to each compression driver.
The 2U rack-mount V6 Systems Engine will tri-amp up to four al-8 acoustic elements. The V6 also houses a 64-bit DSP engine that handles all management functions, including speaker protection, system-optimized alignment of EQ, time and crossover, as well as SystemVUE network connectivity.