+ : £ The new larger Vertus system from FBT was kindly loaned to us by Jack from Kent Discos for a gig we had back in June. This event was Marden’s Big Musical Picnic - an annual family event with live music that attracts over 2000 people throughout the day! We had the opportunity to use the system with many different types of band as well as for playing recorded music, which meant that we were able to really put it through its paces and get a great feel for what it has to offer. had previously had the pleasure of hearing the system – Vertus CLA 406A columns and Vertus CLA118SA subs – at a few smaller gigs and thought that it would be ideal to use for this large outdoor event.

Not only does the system sound great, but it looks sleek and sexy too. The top columns have a very nice curved grille design with a small FBT logo in the centre, while the subs have a very similar look, but with the small logo at the bottom. Now for the geeky information! The Vertus CLA406A packs four 6.5” low frequency woofers and a single 1.4” exit Neodymium compression driver into its distinctive large-scale column enclosure.

The integrated Class D amplifier module provides a total of 900W of power, 600W to the woofers and 300W to the compression driver, enabling it to deliver an impressive maximum SPL of 133dB! Also constructed from birch plywood, the Vertus CLA 118SA houses an 18” B&C low frequency woofer in a bass reflex enclosure. This is powered by a 1200W RMS Class D amplifier module that allows for an SPL of up to 138dB! The ‘CLA’ in the product name stands for ‘Compact Line Array’; as a line array system, it produces a narrow vertical dispersion but a wide horizontal dispersion (25-degrees x 100-degrees).

This means it effectively directs power to the audience in front of it without spreading it off into places that the sound really doesn’t need to go. The system is really well matched and is also really easy to setup. This simply involves sitting the sub on the floor, screwing in the threaded adapter, and then sitting the column on top of that. There is a choice of two adapters; one places the column just above the sub, while the other raises it up by 30cm.

Both units feature powerCon True1 mains Input and Link sockets as well as XLR Input and Link audio sockets. This means that only one power and signal cable needs to be sent to each side. Custom cables are available for the system, which we used and I highly recommend. These combine both the power and signal feeds into a single cable, which means that only one cable is needed between the sub and column, making for an easy setup and neat finish.

FBT VERTUTHS EC LAAR T4 0O6FA A +D CVLEAR T1I1S8INSGA FBT Vertus CLA406A + CLA118SA Dan Young was the sound engineer for Marden’s Big Musical Picnic, so I’ll hand over to him now to share his experiences. There’s no denying it, this is one beast of a system! When we started the day by getting the Vertus boxes out of their flight cases, I couldn’t help thinking, ‘there is no way this is going to be powerful enough!’ However, the system blew me away! The power offered by this, relatively, compact setup is huge!

The system is very easy to set up, although it is quite heavy when it comes to lugging it around! It’s definitely a two-person lift! That said, the system that we used was completely flight cased, with one sub per case and two columns per case. After setting the system up, I decided to run some music through it to get a feel for its capabilities.

My first impressions were that the subs had great bass output; they were punchy within the mix, but they were not over the top. The tops, meanwhile, were bright, but not tinny or harsh. The system as a whole seemed to match really nicely out of the box. The sound was just right with absolutely no EQing.

During sound check, I was able to really explore the potential of the system. Using some PAs, the bass gets really muddy, which can sound horrible. However, with the Vertus, the bass was very clear, I could hear every note as the bassist played it. As soon as we added drums to the mix, the Kick just punched through the field.

The Snare was rather toppy, however that’s how I like it to sound, and, as for the overheads, everything blended together beautifully. It was like I was at home listening to my favourite record on a Hi-Fi system, but out in an open field! Overall, the system really did perform incredibly well. Even though we were outside with a crowd of over 2000 people, I think we only used just over half of the power that was available.

That was quite enough, anymore and I would have been deafened at the mix position! Overall, both Dan and I agree, the Vertus CLA 406A and 118SA system is truly impressive. It offers a great combination of power, audio quality and good looks. While perhaps overkill for some mobile DJ gigs, it is ideal for filling large function rooms – and, as we proved, even outdoor spaces, with crystal clear sound. + E CALRALY 1 D18ASYAS