A large Meyer Sound LEOPARD™ linear sound reinforcement system recently supported a concert in Cologne by the Wise Guys, a popular German a cappella group. Staged at Tanzbrunnen park for a crowd of 6,500, the outdoor tent show celebrated the release of the group’s latest album. The LEOPARD system was provided by Overath-based contour, the first German rental company to purchase LEOPARD after its debut in April.
“LEOPARD offers excellent sound clarity,” says Jan Karlsson, FOH engineer for the Wise Guys. “I can differentiate details in my mix that wouldn’t come through on other systems. These nuances are particularly important, especially with a cappella music. The high resolution, balanced frequency response, and transient response over the entire range gave me an excellent foundation for mixing the band.”
The system for the show comprised main arrays of seven LEOPARD line array loudspeakers each and two side towers of 12 LEOPARD loudspeakers each, supplemented by 16 900-LFC low-frequency control elements in an end-fired configuration. Six M’elodie® line array and two UPQ-1P loudspeakers provided front fill and out fill, respectively, with an additional 18 M’elodie loudspeakers used for delay. A Galileo® loudspeaker management system with one-each Galileo 616 and Galileo Callisto 616 array processor provided system drive and alignment.
“The 900-LFC is an incredible subwoofer,” reports Karlsson. “It responded very quickly and with beautiful differentiation—it was incredibly fun to work with.”
Björn “Örnie” Wiesehöfer, technical director for contour, also had a positive experience at the show. “LEOPARD was our only choice for this application,” he explains. “The sound was very homogeneous and even, despite how low the arrays were hung in the stage area.”
Systems engineer Matthias Pelz adds, “After an amazingly fast and uncomplicated setup and calibration, I didn’t have to step in any further. The system performed great under the tent, and there was no loss of energy. LEOPARD is perfect for smaller venues that may not be able to fly larger and heavier systems, but want to offer impeccable sound.”
Three previous Wise Guys albums have reached gold record status in Germany, with more than 100,000 copies sold. The group is currently on tour throughout Germany and Austria.
