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Following the recent launch of the new L Series line source array at a private Hollywood Bowl event, Nick Fichte, Director of Sales for L-Acoustics Creations, looks at how professional audio loudspeaker technologies can benefit Luxury residential and commercial installations.

Customer experiences for residential and light commercial installations such as hotels, restaurants and bars are increasingly being enhanced as a result of improvements in quality to audio systems - and especially developments in loudspeaker technology. Many of those developments have trickled down from the professional audio world, where the global demand for engaging, immersive sound for live events has never been higher.

As such, the market for loudspeakers is perhaps more buoyant than ever, with advancements in technology and evolving consumer demand for quality live experiences driving parallel successes in luxury residential and commercial AV.

Dr Christian Heil and a team of sound engineers at L-Acoustics revolutionised modern sound production in 1992 by developing the modern line source array, achieving greater throw, uniform audience coverage, directional precision and clarity. Refined and updated many times in the last three decades, the line source array for large commercial venues has reached a pinnacle with the new L Series launched at the Hollywood Bowl in April this year.

Line source technology has unique performance benefits that can answer many of the demands and challenges of commercial and luxury home audio installations.

A line array is made up of a number of usually identical loudspeaker elements mounted in a line and fed in phase to create a near perfect line source of sound. The distance between adjacent drivers is close enough that they constructively interfere with each other to project sound further than traditional loudspeakers, with a more evenly distributed sound output pattern.

Line arrays can achieve high SPL output over a large area that is focused on the audience area, which avoids reflected energy from ceilings or walls. In indoor venues, this translates to better clarity and consistency of sound and in outdoor spaces line source technology improves the range and power performance of the sound system.

In residential and commercial settingswhich often have low ceilings compared to a dedicated performance venue, and hard surfaces - attaining intelligible sound for highperformance entertainment over a wide area can be a major challenge. Compounded with a desire for discrete installation expressed by many venues and achieving required performance with traditional loudspeakers can be near impossible.

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