AVANTE Audio Imperio Pro System Delivers for Katchafire's Kaua'i Concert The New Zealand reggae band Katchafire brought its signature roots-infused sound to Vidinha Stadium on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, joined by local Hawaiian acts High Watah and Revival in front of an audience of 3,000. The production company Audio Visual Technology LLC provided an exclusively AVANTE Audio-powered PA system. "For every event that I do, I try to use all AVANTE Audio products as it just makes my life easier!" says Kent Tanigawa, who leads Audio Visual Technology. "The scalability and ease of operation can't be beat, and I also love the sound quality; we own other systems, but I think AVANTE has the edge when it comes to clarity and depth." The primary PA consisted of two flown arrays, each featuring seven Imperio Pro IMP205 compact line array modules. Two additional IMP205s were positioned as stage in-fills. For extended audience coverage, particularly toward the rear of the stadium, Tanigawa also deployed two delay towers, each carrying four additional IMP205 modules. Building on AVANTE Audio's original Imperio compact line array system, the Imperio Pro Series is billed as delivering increased output, enhanced audio performance, and expanded functionality while retaining the same compact and highly portable form factor. "I bought the original Imperio compact line array modules as soon as they came out," Tanigawa says. "I heard them on demo at NAMM, and they were exactly what I was looking for. I needed a small cabinet that was portable, easy to deploy, scalable, and that I could make sound really good, and that's what the Imperio Series offered. When the Imperio Pro version came out, it was an obvious choice to upgrade, and we now have enough of those to do a big concert like this. But we do still have some of the original Mark 1 boxes, which are still going strong, proving the quality and reliability of AVANTE Audio products." Despite measuring just 12.8" by 7.3" by 8.8", each IMP205 houses two 5" neodymium low-mid drivers and six 1.75" IDVAT (Inverted Dome Vertical Array Technology) high-frequency transducers. Combined with a 440W RMS Class-D amplifier, advanced 32-bit DSP processing, and FIR filter technology, the compact module delivers a maximum SPL of 128dB while maintaining exceptional clarity and consistency throughout the coverage area, the company says. For low-frequency reinforcement, a single Imperio Sub 210 was flown alongside each main array, while eight Imperio Pro IMP118 active subwoofers were ground-stacked in pairs across the front of the stage. Four additional Imperio Sub 210 units were deployed at the delay towers to ensure balanced low-frequency response throughout the venue. "With seven IMP205s on each side, the system gave really good coverage," Tanigawa says. "I decided to add an Imperio Sub 210 flown on each side just to fill in low-mids and help with the longer throw, and then the main Imperio Pro IMP118 subs on the ground did a great job with the bass. We had plenty of headroom, and it sounded fantastic at front of house, with real depth, nice warmth, and good clarity. The delay towers were then behind us at around 250' back from the stage and filled in the sound out where they had some food booths and beverage trucks. I talked after the show to someone who had been standing right at the back, and he said it sounded great there too." The Imperio Pro IMP118 active subwoofer is engineered specifically to complement the IMP205 array module, featuring an 18" high-power woofer with a 4" voice coil and bass-reflex enclosure design. Meanwhile, the compact Imperio Sub 210 combines dual 10" drivers with a sixth-order bandpass enclosure design and onboard Class-D amplification to deliver focused, musical low-end reinforcement while maintaining the portability and flexibility demanded by mobile production companies. Monitoring duties on stage were handled by AVANTE Audio Achromic A10 active full-range loudspeakers. These served as wedge monitors for both the support acts and as backup monitors for Katchafire alongside the band's in-ear monitoring system. "Over the years I've become a big fan of AVANTE Audio," Tanigawa says. "For the size and ease of deployment, I think you can't beat the Imperio Pro Series. It's a robust and versatile system that can be configured for a wide variety of types and sizes of events and is easy to store, transport, set up, and operate. It also sounds phenomenal, as we proved on the Katchafire show!" 
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