BUSINESS: R&D
AA power
Adlib equipment flown and ready for use
Adlib Audio has entered the manufacturing arena with
its AA line of loudspeakers. Richard Lawn
IN THE DYNAMIC AND TURBULENT WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT
technology, the distinction between manufacturer and end-user
has often lacked lucidity. This grey area has sometimes led
frustrated studios and rental companies to seek out a solution
of their own and, with the addition of an enquiring mind to
technical competence, an off the cuff R&D project is never far
away. Think Clair Systems, K-Array and Solid State Logic. Now
add a new member to that group – Adlib Audio.
The reason is the AA range of loudspeakers, the four most
popular products of which are the AA61, AA81 and AA121,
incorporating 6-, 8- and 12-inch drivers respectively. All
three are complemented by the AA12HL 12-inch subwoofer.
Constructed from Finnish birch plywood, the cabinets are
nished with a hard-wearing textured paint exterior. Precision
engineering detail blends, custom speaker chassis, neodymium
compression drivers and Adlib’s custom crossover networks.
The resultant high output, lightweight and compact enclosures
incorporate integral phase plugs mounted on 90-degree conical
waveguides which have been machined into the front baf es of
the enclosures. The two-way models can be orientated vertically
or horizontally with the inclusion of the conical high frequency
dispersion characteristics. Furthermore, the high frequency
compression drivers utilise solid-state protection circuitry (PTC)
that shield the units from any adverse overloading. The two-way
Adlib’s Tom McCarthy, Dave Fletcher, Dave Graham,
Ian Greenwood and Chris Toohey
132 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
passive internal crossovers further enable the individual systems
to be joined together, thus minimising the number of powered
ampli er channels required.
The fanfare for Adlib Audio’s development of its own
loudspeaker series comes some 30 years after the company
set-up shop in Liverpool, England. Founder Andy Dockerty built
up an inventory of reliable speaker systems to lease out to the
bands of 1980s North West England, all from the back of his
Ford Transit. As the business quickly took off, Adlib put down
permanent roots and a team of technicians came onboard
to service and support the hire equipment. But it was Mr
Dockerty’s introduction to Dave Fletcher that ignited the concept
of developing Adlib’s own speaker brand. Mr Fletcher originally
became associated with the company in 1991, leading to a
full-time position in 1993. The pair quickly proved a successful
team – Mr Dockerty had the concepts, while Mr Fletcher had
the genius to make them work. ‘I honestly believe Dave Fletcher
produces some of the best high powered passive networks in
the world,’ Mr Dockerty says now.
Since those early days, Adlib’s expertise and continued
investments have ensured the company’s fortunes have fasttracked from local bars to the biggest stages.
As a new specialist department within the company, Adlib
manufactures and markets its AA brand of speakers in Liverpool.
However, this new division has been in operation for some
two decades, as director Mark Roberts admits. ‘One of our
senior monitor engineers, Marc Peers, assisted Dave Fletcher
in developing a range of monitor speakers 15 years ago, as
he couldn’t nd the right on-stage wedges for our needs. He’s
really the guy on the road, but his interaction with our in-house
engineers allowed us to develop a range of professional wedges
that we still manufacture today. Prior to that, in 1993, Dave
Fletcher and Andy Dockerty designed the DF1 and DF2 high-end
enclosures for the Texas and Del Amitri tours and consequently
general rental stock. At this time, although there were many
manufacturers producing quality products, some rental
companies designed and built their own systems. We learned
quickly that promoting any product on more than a gig-by-gig
basis was going to involve massive marketing budgets – that
Adlib founder Andy Dockerty
was unrealistic at that time. This explains our huge investment
into Martin Audio in the late 1990s, and the decision to only
design and build a smaller range for our own rental stock and
installations. However, the development of the Adlib wedges
started around this time with some degree o