Meyer Sound thinks linear with LEO

US loudspeaker manufacturer Meyer Sound has adopted a subtle strategy in the launch of its new large format touring sound solution, LEO, releasing only minimal information regarding the system’s specifications. However, company founder John Meyer has now gone on the record explaining the key concept behind LEO – linearity. The system is, he said: ‘The first large-scale system designed to operate with a linear response for long-throw applications, regardless of level or the type of music’.

He continued: It’s like a very powerful projector that stays colour neutral no matter how bright it gets. It has enough power to do Metallica but at the same time it can do classical or opera with absolute transparency. It has no sonic signature of its own.’

Engineered specifically for long-throw live applications, LEO is comprised of the LEO-M line array loudspeaker, 1100-LFC low-frequency control element and the Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management system, although MICA cabinets can also be integrated seamlessly as down-fills and JM-1P boxes as in- and out-fills.

Described by Mr Meyer as ‘a result of more than three decades of audio research and development, with thousands of hours of testing to get it to be this robust’, LEO has been designed to offer a generous amount of headroom and high fidelity for large-scale live events.

‘With other systems, a lot of engineers will push the loudspeakers past where they have a linear response to get a particular sound by overstressing them,’ added Mr Meyer. ‘With LEO, we built in a tremendous amount of headroom to cover very large venues. As you increase the levels, the tonality stays constant across all frequencies. You can trust that your output is going to be a linear representation of the input.’

One of the principle advantages of that linearity is scalability. ‘An accurate system is also a scalable system,’ said Mr Meyer. ‘If you’re happy with the drum sound on our smaller HD-1 studio monitor, you’ll be happy with the sound on a stadium-sized LEO system. That makes it much easier to prepare your mix in advance.’

While LEO is new to the market, its presence has already been felt on the international touring circuit. ‘Our pre-release version of the LEO system has been in use since last fall on an arena spectacle tour that is now traveling across Europe,’ continued Mr Meyer. ‘This summer, we worked with LEO rental companies to bring the system to several big festivals across Europe and North America. The input from mixing engineers and promoters so far has assured us that we’re going down the right path, and this is exciting.’

Shipping: Now
Web: www.meyersound.com