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Genny, Genny, Who Can I Turn To? Small Stage Generators For Audio Applications

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Keith Clark:
Genny, Genny, Who Can I Turn To? Small Stage Generators For Audio Applications
Back in the day all generators for stage productions were diesel-powered beasts, but options for smaller events and the times are changing.
By Mike Sokol • Posted in Reading Room on August 2, 2018

Back in the day all generators for stage productions were large, diesel-powered beasts. Pulled in on a trailer, the good ones were quiet, had a large enough fuel tank to last through a show (and then some), and offered single-phase 120/240-volt or 3-phase 120/208-volt power.

We hooked them up with Cam-Lok connectors using 2/0 or 4/0 cable and often placed them up to 100 feet from the stage on pavement so they didn’t sink in the mud. A large show, also with lots of tungsten (ugh) lighting, usually required one or more WhisperWatt 25 to 125 kVA (kilo-volt-ampere) generator(s).

But the times they are a changin’, and with the introduction of more efficient power amplifiers, smaller instrument amplifiers (or none at all), and LED lighting, the need for 100 kW of electrical power to run a show has largely been eliminated (unless you’re doing something on a Beyoncé or Trans-Siberian Orchestra scale, of course).

Read the full article on PSW: https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/live-sound/genny-genny-who-can-i-turn-to-a-primer-on-small-stage-generators-for-audio-applications/

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