After 20 years of building their own, contour invests in MICA

contour GmbH has long had a reputation in Germany as being more than just a tour provider. The company’s unique and unmatched focus on sound quality – based in no small part on twenty years of designing and building its own high-performance PA systems – has made it one of the region’s undisputed leaders in concert sound. With such high standards, it’s only fitting that the first additions to contour’s arsenal in twenty years would be Meyer Sound’s MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers.

Felix Lenz, one third of the triumvirate that founded the company, has been designing and manufacturing his own highly regarded Lenz Audio loudspeakers since 1983. In 1995, Lenz joined forces with veteran tour producer Frank Kasper and lighting designer Thomas Lutz to form contour licht & audio Veranstaltungsservice GmbH. (Lutz has since largely retired; Lenz and Kasper still actively manage the company.) contour has won praise for the sound quality of their shows, and their production staff is kept busy with a wide range of concerts, festivals, trade shows and events at arenas and halls across Europe.

"For us, acoustic performance has always been the defining factor," Kasper states unequivocally. "By manufacturing our own systems, we have been able to maintain full control over all parameters of the system and the sound. From the components to the wood, from covers to crossovers to rigging frames, contour’s own development process has defined our sound."

Success, however, had created a new challenge. As demand for contour’s services grew, it became impractical and cost-prohibitive to manufacture enough speaker systems in-house. The decision was made to look for a system that could meet their demands: "Felix and I spent three years trying out commercial line array systems, but even with our own attempts at modifying and customizing those systems, there was nothing out there we could get enthusiastic about."

But in May of 2006, a tour with colleagues at UK-based Capital Sound led Kasper to Meyer Sound’s MICA compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker system. "We were out for a month with Max Mutzke, the European Song Contest finalist, as supporting act for Katie Melua", Kasper recalls, "and we had the opportunity to work intensively with the MICA system. Even before I heard it, I was amazed at the speed of the installation. Once I saw the rigging system I knew why – it was absolutely brilliant!"

More importantly, Kasper explains, MICA was the first system that actually sounded good enough to meet contour’s exacting standards. "The MICA’s performance exceeded all expectations", he asserts. "Never before had I heard such fantastic resolution, such a clear and soft sound. MICA really offers a new level of quality."

Of course, Kasper immediately wondered if his highly critical partner would agree with his assessment. "Felix tested the system thoroughly for several days", Kasper reports. "He said ‘the MICA system sounds like the loudspeakers I’d like to have created.`"

contour has since added 24 MICA cabinets to their inventory, as well as twelve 600-HP compact high-power subwoofers, two Galileo loudspeaker management systems and a SIM 3 audio analysis system. "Making a large investment in Meyer Sound equipment has been a big step in ensuring our continued expansion and success", Kasper notes. "Even now, our bookings and workload have exceeded our expectations."

"MICA’s performance is natural, open and powerful", concludes Kasper. "Finally, we’ve found a system that complies with our idea of sound."

source: "Meyersound.com"