Outline Kangaroo

Outline have cracked the problem in a very elegant and beautifully engineered manner with their Kangaroo system, as the mid/high passive speaker does indeed stow inside the active bass bin for transit, yet the whole thing weighs 42 kg, which is no more than one of my Mackie bass bins on its own. If you're wondering where the name came from, by the way, think how a Kangaroo carries its young.

The Kangaroo comprises two separate units — a passive, two-way satellite and a subwoofer housing all the power amps — but as the satellite stows inside the bass bin during transit, and because of the tapered shape of the bass cabinets, a pair of units will sit side-by-side in a typical hatchback or estate car. Despite its compact size, the system can project a peak level of 132dB SPL (128dB in full-space conditions) at one metre with a frequency response from 37Hz (-10dB, or 47Hz at the -3dB point) to 16.5kHz. One reason for the relatively modest weight is the use of the two Class-D pulse width modulation (PWM) amplifiers built into in the sub, which work in conjunction with a passive crossover in the satellite cabinet to create a three-way system. A 500W amplifier feeds the sub driver with a second amplifier feeding the passive crossover in the satellite. This then splits the signal between the mid-range driver and the HF unit.

The Kangaroo system's subwoofer comprises a braced, ported, 15mm birch plywood enclosure with a trapezoidal shape and overall dimensions of 55 x 55 x 60cm, though the cabinet is only 23cm wide at the rear, so a pair of cabinets side by side (one facing forwards and one facing backwards) can fit into a 78cm-wide space. Its 15-inch woofer, protected by a steel grille and powered by a neodymium magnet, is rated at 350W RMS (or 1400W peak), and features a massive three-inch voice coil. Slot-shaped reflex tuning ports are sited both above and below the driver. Four integral handles are cut into the cabinet to ease transportation, but a neat touch is that there are optional protective ply boards that fit over the front of the speaker via two aircraft-type fasteners (using a pair of captive keys that stay fixed to the board) and this is equipped with large industrial castors to aid wheeling the system around. Despite the relatively low system weight, the fact that both of the speakers pack into one does mean that you need two people for a comfortable lift, and the handle placement reflects this. One person can lift a speaker into the back of a car but you need to be careful. Protective covers with accessory pockets to hold the cables are also available and can be left in situ during use if required, as all the relevant panels on the sub can be accessed via Velcro'd flaps. These provide excellent protection during transit and are clearly made to last.

The satellite, also built from 15mm birch ply, stows in a hinged hatch mounted on the bottom of the cabinet, which is opened and closed by means of a T-shaped, square-ended key (which comes supplied). This is a bit like a large radiator key but if you happen to lose it, a small adjustable spanner or even a pair of pliers might get you out of trouble — as long as you remember that it turns clockwise to unlock. A felt gasket around the hatch provides a good seal and prevents rattles when the speaker is in use, while the locking mechanism itself is extremely sophisticated, employing multiple, retracting, tapered, flat bolts around the hatch lid rather like those that run the length of a double-glazed door. These physically pull the hatch tightly closed when locked. The internal guides for the satellite stowage are lined with felt and foam so there's no chance of scratching or shifting while in transit. An M20 thread pole socket is fitted to the top of the woofer and there's a 35mm pole socket to the base of the satellite for easy setup. The driver placement is such that the system is correctly time aligned when the speakers are pole mounted.

Inside the satellite cabinet, which looks like a smaller version of the bass bin, is a 12-inch, neodymium mid/low driver with a 2.5-inch voice coil, again in a tuned-ported cabinet, with a power handling of 200W RMS (or 800W peak). The reason the cabinet is ported is to provide a reasonable amount of bass extension if used without the sub. At the top end is an Outline OUT4 1.75-inch compression driver rated at 50W RMS (200W peak), which uses Outline's proprietary Unimetal construction, which is based around a thin aluminium/magnesium alloy membrane. This feeds a rigid glass-fibre horn flare with a one-inch throat producing a dispersion angle of 90 degrees. The system is optimised for short-throw applications where placement close to an audience requires a wide dispersion characteristic. According to the spec sheet, the frequency response is very linear with a phase response ±45 degrees from 500Hz to 16kHz. Where bass reproduction isn't required, the satellites can be fed from a suitable amplifier to function as a stand-alone system.

Each satellite cabinet is fitted with two integral handles cut into the woodwork for transport and for lifting the unit out of its home in the bass bin cabinet. It is also worth mentioning that the top panel incorporates Outline's Stack Align system (a screw-in stud that locates into the pole socket of the upper unit) to ensure correct alignment when stacking two satellites. This narrows the vertical dispersion angle giving the system more 'throw'. Both cabinets are finished in a tough, black textured paint. The 12-inch driver is protected by a steel grille, and though this rings rather alarmingly when you tap it, it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect during normal operation. By contrast, the grille protecting the sub driver is very well damped. Further metal grille material covers the reflex ports, which are located either side of the horn flare.

Pretty much all the controls are located on the metal rear panel of the sub, which is sensibly recessed. This panel also contains a grille for the small cooling fan. The line input is via the expected balanced female XLR socket, though this links directly to a male Thru XLR socket so you can feed it with a female XLR if you need to. To the right of the input section are the Ethernet socket for connection to a PC and a button for stepping through the presets, indicated by a row of four LEDs. The factory presets (which are really variations on the usual frown and smile curves for speech and music) can be overwritten using the PC software. Oddly there's no power switch, just a status LED that shows you when the unit is active, with an adjacent temperature light to warn of overheating. If run with this light on for extended periods, the internal electronic amplifier protection may intervene. A separate stepped rotary level control switch sets the sub level, and this sits alongside three status LEDs, where Prot shows if the amplifier protection becomes active, Clip flashes when the internal limiter is being forced to operate due to excessive input signal peaks and Signal comes on to show that a signal of some kind is being received.

To the right of the sub section is an area of panel dedicated to the satellite speaker, which again has its own stepped level control, Prot, Clip and Signal LEDs. A Speakon socket provides the feed to the satellite via the supplied Speakon cable. Power comes in at the bottom of the panel, but the designers have elected to use a Powercon mains connector (a mains version of Speakon) rather than the more usual IEC inlet, as it is capable of handling more current, which may be important if you use the power linking facility. Technically this makes perfect sense, but if you lose your Powercon mains cable and only find out next time you try to set up, you're stuffed if you don't have a spare. This has happened to me in the past with another system and I was lucky to find a friend who could lend me one, as none of the music stores within 70 miles had even heard of a Powercon cable, let alone carry stocks! Personally I'd prefer to take my chances with an IEC cable any day as replacements can be picked up almost anywhere, so be warned and order a spare mains cable. A Thru Powercon connector is fitted next to the inlet, which enables mains connections to be daisy chained between pairs of systems using male-to-female Powercon cables. As the satellite is passive, there are no controls — just a Speakon input socket.

Tested first at low levels with commercial music and with the sub and satellite gains set the same, the sound comes across as very listenable, with the presets offering subtle but useful alternatives to a flat response. Many commercial PA systems actually sound pretty unimpressive when reproducing music but this one combines clarity, punch and, very importantly, mid-range integrity, so that it's more like listening to a big studio monitoring system than a PA setup. What's more, the horn sounds pretty sweet given its power capabilities, without the aggressive squawkiness of some systems I've tried. The sound also holds up very well, even quite a long way off axis, with only a little high-end drop-off, so providing broad coverage in a pub or club shouldn't be an issue. Preset One gives canned music a welcome presence lift but the flat setting should work fine for most gig work, especially if you have decent mixer EQ or a graphic EQ to iron out the worst of the room problems.

To avoid room problems compromising our tests, we ran the system for an outdoor live music event, again with the sub and main settings the same and with the flat response selected. Right away we got a great vocal sound with no EQ. Miked electric guitar sounded more 'right' than through many of the systems I've used, where the bright upper mid many designers seem to build in tends to make the guitar sound rather aggressive. The kick drum also sounded well defined and solid, without the 'one-note' character that some lesser subs exhibit, so once again the result was rather more hi-fi than I've come to expect from this type of PA package, and reminded me of the sound of my own somewhat smaller Fohhn system. The sound from the sub definitely integrates well, providing the necessary bass extension without drawing attention to itself.

The wide dispersion really paid off at this particular gig, as the audience were wandering around the grounds rather than staying put right in front of the speakers — the coverage was excellent and we achieved more than adequate level while running the system well below its maximum capacity. Brief tests at a higher level confirmed that the system could indeed play very loud for its size, but what I appreciated most was the apparently effortless way in which a really high-quality sound was projected at realistic performance levels. There was also little sound projected from the rear of the cabinet, which makes setting up stage monitoring less of a challenge.

The only practical comment I have to make on the design is that some form of pole clamp for the satellites may have been useful, as the cabinets can tend to turn on the poles when rigged on slightly uneven ground. Other than that relatively minor observation, the system worked as well as anything else I've used of a comparable size; it was very easy to set up and it took up relatively little space in transit, which was important for us as we all use our cars for gigs rather than a single van — though I wouldn't want to have to handle it on my own because of the weight. Of course you can take the speakers to your vehicle separately and then pack them there, in which case the subs are very manageable.

Inevitably the system is quite expensive — not overly so considering its quality and innovative features, but it may well be beyond the budget of the typical weekend pub band. Competitors would include the likes of Fohhn and the more sophisticated HK Audio systems, which also command high prices, so this is definitely a system for musicians who need high quality and get enough gigs to pay for it. Personally I loved it and will be sorry to see it go back.  0