Alcons Audio is a manufacturer of professional sound systems for quality-conscious clients in the cinema, installation and rental/touring applications. The Dutch company pioneered high-power pro-ribbon (RBN) technology and this multiple-patented planar ribbon transducers are at the heart of the company’s Q-systems. These were designed for modern sound reinforcement requirements where the desire for the highest-quality performance meets restrictions in weight and volume of the actual speaker cabinets.
The different working principle of the pro-ribbon driver enables the Alcons Q-series to deliver a combination of clarity, low distortion, speech intelligibility, and identical tonal balance at any SPL, with speakers that are compact and modular, perfect for portable PA applications where a high directivity and/or a long throw coverage is required.
The Q-series is a group of columns based on the same high-frequency transducers which already included the modular QR24 line-source module with the QM24 low-mid extension, which can be combined to create arrays for any reinforcement situation, minimizing the influence of room acoustics. The QRP20 adds a slim and compact 2-way column array system, specifically designed for applications where ultimate fidelity response needs to be projected with wide horizontal and narrow vertical coverage, ideal in acoustically challenging environments, or applications where intelligibility-over-distance is required.
Loaded with the RBN401 4” pro-ribbon driver on a “Morpher” lens, the system offers a very high throw-efficiency and projection control, due to the pro-ribbon’s all-natural cylindrical wavefront. Its transient response and unusual high peak power handling (800W @ 200ms) enables a perfect intelligibility from the lowest to the highest SPL with a 1:15 RMS-to-peak dynamic range, while offering maximum “gain-before-feedback”.
The flat frequency response and the fast impulse response of the RBN mid-high frequency transducers, in combination with the sharply controlled dispersion, brings a maximum “gain-before-feedback” up to directly in front of / under the system. And due to the “compression-less” principle of the pro-ribbon transducer technology, the system has a fully linear response at any SPL.
The RBN401 is mounted in a D'Appolito speaker configuration with the four 5” woofers in a sealed cabinet. The custom-designed 5” woofers feature Active Coil technology for extremely low-distortion LF reproduction, a perfect match with the pro-ribbon MHF reproduction and the (patented) horizontal dispersion to beyond 20kHz.
As with all Alcons speakers, the new QRP’s are powered and controlled by the ALC amplified loudspeaker controller, which manages the integrated VHIR processing, combined with high-quality amplifier stages and a Signal Integrity Sensing feedback circuit. The Alcons ALC systems offer QRP20-specific drive processing, maximizing the results in terms of frequency response and directivity control for sound designers.
“The essence of the Q-series is the isophasic wavefront of our pro-ribbon mid/high frequency transducer technology, delivering the razor-sharp, side-lobe free projection control in the vertical plane and throw, the Q-series is known for,” explains Philip “Dr. Phil” de Haan, head of Alcons Audio R&D.
“Following the success of our larger QR24 system, that utilizes this line-source wavefront coupling ability in a modular configuration, we received many requests for a smaller, non-modular single cabinet system, while maintaining the controlled projection characteristics. The result is the QRP20 point-source column.”
“We’ve seen in many, typically acoustically challenging applications, that the necessity for controlling the sound projection in order to get a satisfactory intelligibility lead to severe sacrifices on sound quality and dynamic output with existing solutions, either passive or steered. The QRP20 is proof that an exceptional, SPL independent intelligibility and throw is possible without any sacrifice on sound quality and performance, regardless of system size,” states Phil de Haan.
The Alcons QRP20 is available in two versions with 90-degree (QRP20/90) and 120-degree (QRP20/120) horizontal dispersion and comes with Alcons Audio’s 6 year “no hassle” warranty.
www.qrseries.info | www.alconsaudio.com
