A much stronger company than it lets on… As the saying goes… to know where we are and where we're going, it's important to know where we come from. And although its name is misleading because of its English origin, today, and for several decades now, it has been a German company. It was founded in the mid-'70s in England by (as you can imagine) Adam Hall. In 1980 Adam Kirby created Adam Hall GmbH. But it wasn't until 1993 that David Kirby acquired one hundred percent of Adam Hall's shares, and not until 1998 that he acquired Palmer.
Today Adam Hall has more than 130 employees around the world and is the leading brand in flight case hardware, racks and other accessories. In addition, it distributes Eminence and BMS speakers, Defender cable protection, Palmer Audio, Gravity Stands and Cameo Lighting. All this without forgetting its own pro audio brand, LD Systems. All of this means it has a warehouse of more than twenty thousand square meters in Germany, from which it distributes worldwide. And all of this brings us to where we find ourselves today…
* The full photo report is on Flickr ISP Audio & Light
Adam Hall Showroom Barcelona
The company has decided to set up a showroom where it can show its latest innovations in audio, lighting, installation and more to potential customers. It also makes it possible to offer training days both for its own staff and for its distribution chain. At all times we were looked after and briefed by Gabriel Medrano, Adam Hall's director for Southern Europe, and his agents.
It's worth highlighting how important it is for any brand to create a showroom open to the public (during business hours and by appointment) where anyone interested in learning about and buying its products (always through its sales network) can come and try them firsthand.
There's a large number of products on demo, ranging from its biggest PA system to its Contractor fixed-installation series. Along the way you'll find its Defender cable protection, its Palmer audio systems, its Cameo lighting and even products from other brands it distributes, such as Eminence, BMS and the Spanish power amp specialist RAM Audio.
One of the products that caught our attention most was the portable column PA series, the Maui series. The Maui series consists of five different models: Maui 5, Maui 11, Maui 28, Maui 28 Mix and Maui 44. The higher the number in the series, the higher the power. These systems consist of a subwoofer and a mid/high column that slots into the sub itself. Initially the series is available in two colors, white and black, which works very well for certain kinds of events where integrating the sound system with the décor is very important. But don't let that fool you: these systems sound really good, and they can handle anything from background music or a small acoustic set to a full-band concert for around six hundred people with two Maui 44 systems.
Another system that really caught our attention for its size, sound quality and configuration options was the Curv 500 series. It's also a column system with a subwoofer and a mid/high top, but in this case it can be "split in two" to create a 2.1 stereo system.
As far as large PA systems go, LD Systems also offers several configurations. Since we were in the showroom, we couldn't push much SPL the way we could outdoors, but it's worth highlighting the quality of its sound and its more than sufficient level for any indoor venue, regardless of size. This series is made up of the VA4 and VA8 tops and the V215 and V218 subs, with the corresponding DSP DPA260 controller.
A very interesting product area that LD Systems handles very well is the small mixer market. We already knew them for their LAX series, but this year they've introduced a new series ranging from six to twelve channels: the Vibz series, which can include a compressor and effects per channel. A product we really liked for conferences, talk shows, panel discussions and even broadcast was the AM8 8-channel automatic mixer. It has 8 mic channels with DSP and a Priority function (let's call it the boss/master channel), where we can set a threshold for the other channels so that when the Priority channel comes in, the level of the other seven channels drops.
When it comes to installation, Adam Hall, through its LD Systems brand, has a good range of products to integrate into installations of all kinds, from small four-inch systems to six-and-a-half-inch wall and/or ceiling systems. Either of these products can be complemented with subwoofers designed specifically for this series.
Lighting
Moving on to lighting, Adam Hall has a range of fixtures, all using LED or laser technology, to cover any need for any show or event. Cameo Lighting has a wide line of products not only for indoor use but also for outdoors, with IP65 ratings. One of the products that caught our attention most for its quality, features, power and price was the Aurabeam 150 moving head with 7x15W RGBW, whose ability to move endlessly and quickly in pan and tilt really surprised us. Another of Cameo Lighting's star products is its laser line, above all the Ioda 1000RGB. As its name suggests, it has a one-thousand-mW laser. A tremendously powerful laser with features far superior to other products on the market.
Adam Hall recently created a new product line called Gravity, dedicated to stands. In it you'll find stands for microphones, keyboards, speakers, laptops, music stands, guitars, monitor stands, lamps and other accessories such as carrying bags. A system exclusive to the brand is the Quick Coupler, a quick-release mounting system for mic stands. This system is very convenient at festivals, where band and mic changeovers have to be done in very little time.
Last but not least, we have Palmer Audio. It's by no means an unknown or new brand in the pro audio world, since for years it has been providing solutions such as DI boxes, load boxes for amps, press splitters, headphone amplifiers, cable testers, monitor controllers and phantom power supplies. Relatively recently, just a few years ago, Palmer launched a new product line for the guitar world, including amps, A/B amp signal splitters, pedalboards and pedals.
We'd like to thank Adam Hall for hosting the event, but above all thank them for continuing to bet on a market like ours which, although it has been through some rather difficult recent years, is little by little starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And of course we congratulate them on the quality of their showroom and on all the solutions they offer us. Be sure to visit them, either at the showroom itself or through their comprehensive website.
