The commercial introduction of this system, however, turned out to be a delicate operation, as it put the prevailing ideas of the day into serious question. Until the advent of WST, no one had experienced a Fresnel field (near field) and a Fraunhofer field (far field). No one else was talking about the propagation of a cylindrical wavefront or the decreasing of sound pressure level by 3dB per doubling of the distance or angular coverage in fractions of degrees. Basically, everyone was interested in the individual properties of loudspeakers, but L-ACOUSTICS introduced the idea of a collective concept associated with a group of modular speaker elements. It was an entirely new discussion - a different way of working - and the results went beyond the scope of what was currently accepted in the industry. New ideas are sometimes difficult to embrace, and so we sought to find a way to slowly introduce this technology, while getting it to be progressively accepted by the major players in the pro audio field.

Therefore we opted for a measured distribution of the V-DOSC system within the rental market, with particular emphasis on education and technical support. The V-DOSC Network was built up bit-by-bit, adding a few new members each year. The companies that purchased V-DOSC systems were welcomed by L-ACOUSTICS and L-ACOUSTICS US for their capability to integrate new technologies, for the quality of their staff, and for their high degree of representation within the rental market.

Companies don't invest in new technology for the sake of a manufacturer: they make a strategic technological choice that offers the greatest overall return on their investment. The Network is about having the appropriate partners in their respective market segments, who are able to stimulate and respond to demand as it arises. Indeed, a large part of the success of V-DOSC can be attributed to the Network.

Another contributing factor to the acceptance of V-DOSC and WST is the focus on training of specialized personnel to operate this technologically sophisticated system. But sophisticated doesn't necessarily mean complicated. As I said earlier, when we're dealing with directivity that is accurate to a fraction of a degree, as well as a radically different way of working both in the near field and the far field, it's important to be able to rely on competent people who are not only aware of such technology, but who have also experienced and mastered it. So we place great emphasis on Certified V-DOSC Engineer (CVE) Training Seminars, an important source of scientifically tested information regarding the set-up and operation of the system. Once these operators have been taught how to use the tools that we put at their disposal, operating a V-DOSC system is actually quite simple.

As a result of the success of our approach, other manufacturers eventually saw they had no choice but to get in line with their version of the concept. What is distressing is to see certain companies who not only imitate beyond what is flattering, but also are attempting to appropriate the nature and origins of our concepts for themselves. Fortunately, some maintain their proprietary concepts and specifications. There is a difference between reality and marketing-speak. Our experience with V-DOSC is backed up by facts and extensive work in the field, not just promises.

It is important to understand that there is a big difference between a line array and a variable curvature line-source array (WST). This may initially appear to be mere semantics, but it takes on greater importance when one looks at the technology employed for these different products. Line arraying is the process of mounting loudspeakers one on top of the other. Nothing revolutionary there. What is characteristic and specific to our principle is that the system has been designed in such a way that the separate sound sources behave as a continuous line source, similar to a flat isophasic (constant phase) ribbon, which can be bent in order to shape the radiated wavefront to specification. This makes it possible to maximize intelligibility and deliver remarkably homogeneous sound pressure level (SPL) over the exact audience geometry.

Originally presented in 1992, the conditions of WST cover the waveform dispersion patterns and are achieved through our patented DOSC waveguide. While other systems might approach the operating principles of WST, they actually manage to accomplish this only for one part of the audio spectrum, and do not manage to achieve coherent operation in the high frequency range, which is the most difficult part. Other products may offer correct functionality across the whole of the audio spectrum, but cannot generate a cylindrical wavefront, which is the key to long distance intelligibility. Then the attempt is to create the impression of full-spectrum performance. It is my feeling that unless the consumer exercises great care, they could end up with a popularized version of our technology, entailing a significant corruption of the principles of operation and inevitably, reduced performance.

The development and success of V-DOSC has been the fruit of long, hard labor, led by a highly motivated and professional team. And since its introduction, V-DOSC has been further improved as a result of the input of sound engineers and service providers who are actively participating in maximizing the potential of this product.

The V-DOSC system didn't wait to evolve: every year we put forward developments that are the result of the enormous diversity of operations that the system is subjected to. Be it in amplification, processing, construction quality, variety of presets, technical support, modeling tools or rigging, the current vintage contains many enhancements when compared to the original 1993 version. These improvements constitute a significant advance over newly emerging systems.

The V-DOSC Network is a force of more than 60 suppliers of highly specialized services located all across the globe and market leaders among the best in their field. Together they form an extremely structured, organized and well-informed Network that offers more than 2,500 interchangeable V-DOSC cabinets. Our plan is to have the international supplier Network completely built up by 2005. Thus we will have achieved our objective within the rental market: a global representation of a unique and uniform system linked to the rental market through a strong and reliable Network of professional service providers.

Beyond this prolific rental activity, L-ACOUSTICS is committed to strengthening our presence in the permanent installation market. We offer a concise but complete range of innovative products, and have added additional WST products, namely ARCS and more recently, dV-DOSC. This enables us to offer consultants and contractors a large number of appropriate high-performance solutions. In addition, we continue to work on further developing our proprietary modeling techniques in conjunction with industry standard modeling software.

L-ACOUSTICS is the first and only manufacturer to offer its customers the principles of Wavefront Sculpture Technology and the benefits of line source technology, while also delivering a turnkey system, technical support, modeling tools and a strong distribution Network.

As I mentioned at the outset, I hope this is informative in understanding the history and goals of L-ACOUSTICS. It saddens me to hear our industry predicting line array "wars", but I do believe that only a few of these products will achieve sufficient momentum to prosper in the marketplace. My hope is that the audio customer is the real beneficiary of these forces of competition.