| K-array | |
| Type: | Public Company |
| Founders: | Carlo Tatini, Alessandro Tatini and Massimo Ferrati |
| Industry: | Audio electronics |
| Products: | Audio electronics |
| Num Employees: | 60 (2017) |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Foundation: | 1990 Florence, Italy |
| Location: | Scarperia e San Piero, Tuscany, Italy |
K-array is an Italy-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and amplification products for the professional audio market. K-array’s products are sold in over 50 countries around the world, and have been used in a variety of environments including major concert tours, cathedrals, stadia, theatres, restaurants and hotels.[1]
In 1990, innovative entrepreneurs Carlo Tatini, Alessandro Tatini and Massimo Ferrati founded HP Sound Equipment to design and fit-out broadcast studios for television and radio. After noticing that unbalanced lavalier microphones would pick up hum from electrical equipment nearby, such as dimmers and power distribution, the group created a miniature microphone with integrated pre-amp inside the cartridge. Later, HP Sound began expanding into the manufacture of other product categories, including their own line of MI equipment, and designing OEM solutions for other manufacturers.[2]
In 2005, HP Sound re-positioned their loudspeaker products into a new brand and K-array was named. Shortly after, the live sound-focused company launched its flagship Concert Series range of small-footprint line array products, designed to minimize transport and storage costs during touring. The brand’s first product, the KH4 loudspeaker, weighed 100 lbs and had a depth of 6”.[3]
In the years that followed, K-array has continued to develop line array solutions, including the flat-panel line array modules, alongside slim line column loudspeakers, micro loudspeakers with integrated LED lighting, a flexible rope-like loudspeaker, and a moving head loudspeaker with integrated camera.[4]
In 2020, KSCAPE, a new division of K-array, combines innovative audio with high-end light in one product to provide architects and designers with a single solution that merges senses. RAIL is a 1.2 meter homogenous linear LED track light with full-range cone drivers.
Following in the footsteps of K-array’s 30 years of pro audio research, KGEAR is born in a bid to meet a wider range of users. A new line of fresh pro-audio products that benefit from the uncompromising technologies developed by K-array. With a deep focus on performance and sound quality, KGEAR products offer an easy and straight technical approach to create effective solutions, providing all the features needed to fit any situation and environment.
K-array has a number of technology ranges that it integrates into products, including SAT (Slim Array Technology).
Slim Array Technology (SAT) was developed to confront issues using large line array elements by substituting the big enclosures with slim boxes.[5] Whereas a big air volume inside a large speaker box in a standard line array is necessary to maximize the speaker efficiency in the mid-low frequency range, a slim box allows sound to exit instantaneously without resonance, generating a significant amount of sound pressure in the low and low-mid range with a fast transient response. Therefore, all sounds characterized by fast transients, like percussion instruments, are reproduced in a more natural way.[6]