Funktion-One doesn’t do typical. The company’s approach to sound design, driven by Tony Andrews, John Newsham and the design team, is centred on creating better audio – regardless of the application. It’s an ethos that starts with its smallest speaker and ends with its largest.

It is no surprise, therefore, that when it comes to the fairly typical format of ‘the small PA’, Funktion-One has created something that is capable of transforming any small-to-medium sized space in to an immersive audio environment.

The company has a range of speaker and bass enclosure combinations, but in this instance we are focusing on the F1201 and BR118 pairing – two products that are fairly recent additions to the manufacturer’s product range.

The F1201 is a trapezoidal cabinet, which features a custom designed 12in driver and a 1in compression driver, which combine to deliver clarity across the 60Hz to 20kHz frequency range. The high passive crossover point ensures the crucial vocal range is faithfully reproduced with minimal distortion and no external processing or corrective EQ is required. The F1201 offers excellent efficiency – 100dB 1W at 1m.

Integral M10 fly points and its rotatable 90° x 45° HF horn makes installation straightforward, even in low ceiling environments. Alternatively, the F1201 can be mounted on to a bass enclosure, like the BR118, using the integral pole mount, which is fitted as standard.

The BR118 is a single 18-inch bass reflex enclosure, which delivers deep, elastic bass – even at close range. Its unique tuning results in a relatively compact size and more definition than is usually available from this type of enclosure. This extra definition means the BR118 can also be used for higher bass frequencies, leading to use in a wider variety of configurations.

With the addition of the M20 mounting pole, the F1201 and BR118 combine to create a flexible small PA system, which carries the high-fidelity performance characteristics associated with Funktion-One’s larger format speakers.

Tony Andrews explains: “By careful driver and enclosure tuning we have achieved the speed and immediacy of our larger products in our near to medium field smaller range. This means excellent coherence and smooth response for good speech intelligibility and tight, meaningful low frequencies making the combination suitable for all applications and genres of music.

“Our customers have found the F1201 and BR118 to be a highly portable and effective combination for use in small music venues and outdoor parties. They have also found the F1201 to be a perfect stand alone cabinet for use in speech oriented applications such as theatre and AV maximising inventory flexibility.”

The Stove – an arts hub in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland – recently acquired two F1201s and a pair of BR118s. The venue is used for a wide variety of events, including exhibitions, live gigs, spoken word events, meetings, conferences and album listening parties.

Colin Tennant, who is a member of The Stove’s curatorial team, explains why they chose the system: “We wanted a sound system that could be used around the building, even outside the front of the building, so the Funktion-One set-up is brilliant for that. But we wanted more than flexibility. We wanted a level of sound quality that matches our ambitions for the building, so that every event that requires amplified sound will have the clarity and impact that people associate with Funktion-One. The white finish that we opted for is an added bonus – it really works in the space.”

 

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