PreSonus collaborates with Fulcrum Acoustic for AI loudspeaker ranges

David Gunness design and active integration sees PreSonus enter new sectors

US manufacturer PreSonus has made a dramatic entry into the loudspeaker market following a collaboration with David Gunness and Fulcrum Acoustic. The partnership has yielded the StudioLive AI-series range of live sound enclosures, plus a range of studio monitors.

Promising ‘studio-monitor accuracy onstage’, StudioLive AI-series loudspeakers lead the manufacturer’s new strategy of Active Integration – deploying a complete eco-system of audio products that can ‘sense each other, interact and work together wirelessly’, effectively taking end-users from the composition and recording process all the way to the stage.

Like all equipment boasting the Active Integration designation, the StudioLive PA speakers offer complete wireless or wired remote control and monitoring using an iPad or laptop. A USB Wi-Fi module is available for achieving Wi-Fi connections to the manufacturer’s SL Room Control software, while an Ethernet port is built-in for wired connections. An alternative AVB option card is also due to be released later in 2013.

Crucially, the PA enclosures also represent the culmination of the manufacturer’s relationship with Mr Gunness, incorporating Fulcrum Acoustic's TQ Temporal Equalisation algorithms. TQ employs multiple FIR filters to eliminate horn reflections and correct linear time and amplitude anomalies.

Full-range AI-series loudspeakers are available in three configurations. Each compact, powered, three-way loudspeaker relies on a custom-designed, 8-inch coaxial speaker with a 1.75-inch titanium compression driver to reproduce the mid and high frequencies. The triamplified, Class-D power amplifiers in each model (quad-amped in the 328AI) reportedly deliver a combined 2,000W.

The StudioLive 312AI comes equipped with a 12-inch ferrite speaker, while the compact 328AI boasts dual 8-inch ferrite speakers. The larger 315AI offers three-way coverage with a 15-inch speaker for low end. All three pole-mountable models include a combo XLR/TRS line input and an XLR microphone input with an XMAX Class-A mic preamp and 12V phantom power, as well as an XLR audio throughput, plus M10 fly points and lightweight plywood cabinets.

Users are offered three operation modes with DSP presets suited to specific applications, while custom presets can also be created using SL Room Control. For additional low-end, meanwhile, the StudioLive 18sAI is an 18-inch, ferrite subwoofer loaded with a 1,000W amplifier and a built-in option of setting a preset delay line for improved speaker positioning. Each of the full-range cabinets includes an External Subwoofer mode in which a custom low-cut filter ensures that the bottom frequency range of the woofer and the top range of the StudioLive 18sAI subwoofer overlap, and an alignment delay and phase correction are enabled, creating a true time- and phase-aligned, four-way system.

Meanwhile, back in the studio, the Sceptre-series CoActual studio reference monitors have also emerged from the relationship between PreSonus and Fulcrum. The two-model range has been designed around a coaxial design that works integrally with a 32-bit, 96kHz, dual-core processor, again using TQ technology. They are described by PreSonus as ‘delivering clarity and coherence previously only been available in ultra-high-end systems’.

First in the series is the Sceptre S8, which combines an 8-inch low/mid-frequency driver and 1-inch, horn-loaded HF transducer into a single coaxial unit with aligned voice coils. Similarly, the Sceptre S6 integrates a 6.5-inch low/mid driver and a 1-inch HF section. Both models have acoustic ports.

Other features include a four-position Acoustic Space switch that controls a second-order shelving filter centred at 100Hz, with four attenuation settings (no attenuation, -1.5dB, -3dB, and -6dB) to account for the bass response relative to room dimensions and speaker placement. Also onboard, a High Pass switch sets the 12dB/octave filter’s low-frequency cut-off to linear, 60Hz, 80Hz, or 100Hz; and a High-Frequency Driver Adjust switch alters the tweeter’s performance to linear (0dB), +1dB, -1.5dB, or -4dB. Sensitivity controls range from +4dBu to -10dBV.

The systems are biamplified – each transducer is powered by a 100W RMS, Class-D power amp with an internal heat sink. Additionally, the two monitors boast balanced XLR and ¼-inch TRS line-level inputs with A-taper level control, RF shielding, current-output limiting, and temperature protection.

Finally, PreSonus has also announced the StudioLive 32.4.2AI, which also benefits from Active Integration Technology, more details of which will follow in the next issue.

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