For more than 20 years, tribute band BABBA band has been selling out halls across
Australia, Asia, and New Zealand, transporting spellbound crowds back to the heady
days of the 1970s with tight harmonies, stunning costumes, and razor-sharp
choreography.
The band’s authentic musical tribute is all the more impressive thanks to their
compact but powerful Fulcrum Acoustic PA rig. The band’s audio director, Simon
Stavenuiter, has long been an advocate of Fulcrum loudspeakers.
Stavenuiter, or “Stav” as his friends call him, employs a simple but powerful
system for BABBA, comprising a single FA22ac dual 12-inch coaxial loudspeaker per
side. The portable, self-powered three-way system features a rotatable horn and
on-board DSP. Each side is pole-mounted atop a Fulcrum TS215AC subwoofer,
delivering more than enough horsepower to fill the dance floor. “Fulcrum Acoustic
systems deliver exceptional power and performance compared to other systems
we’ve taken out,” Stav asserts. Two FA12AC wedges provide monitors, with a single
FA28AC handling monitors and click track for the drummer.
Stav points to the Fulcrum system’s portability as another asset. “Our earlier
system used a pair of 12-inch cabinets stacked on top of an 18-inch sub per side,”
he observes. “The Fulcrum system transports a whole lot easier; there is only one
cabinet and one sub per side, and the top is light enough for me to mount on the
pole without assistance. The sub is definitely substantial – a bit heavier than what I
was using previously, but still not too heavy for the very rare occasion we have
stairs to load up.”
The on-board DSP is an essential feature for Stav. “Between the rotatable horn and
the built-in processing, I’m able to tailor the system coverage for pretty much any
space we need to fill,” he asserts.
Stav concludes, “Every previous system we’ve used, we’ve pushed to their
extremes, but with our Fulcrum system, I’ve never encountered a room where we
have not had enough PA.”
