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12 Aug 2020

L-Acoustics and Novatech celebrate 15 years


What happens when two like-minded companies, both born with a profound passion for sound, meet and form a partnership? In 2005, Novatech chose to invest in its first L-Acoustics system, allowing the company to enter the large concert and touring market for the very first time.

Fifteen years later, and now one of the world’s most trusted full-service corporate event production companies and a member of the global AV Alliance, Novatech is a 100 percent L-Acoustics house, counting over 1,200 L-Acoustics products in its inventory.


When it comes to in-house knowledge and know-how about the event experience, Novatech’s expertise is second to none. With over 60 full-time staff and 20 to 30 casual crew, Novatech employs one of the most qualified and talented event production teams in Australia and is ready to make any event a roaring success.

Owning L-Acoustics systems has not only helped the company solidify and grow its presence in the industry, but also improve the quality of what it provides to its customers.

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“Our story with L-Acoustics commenced with the purchase of a Kudo system back in 2005, four years after Novatech was founded” reminisces Novatech’s Managing Director, Leko Novakovic.

“Since our early days, we only wanted to carry one brand of loudspeaker in the company’s portfolio, and we wanted it to be the absolute best quality product. L-Acoustics covered everything we needed, so we invested in our first system with them and have not looked back since.”

With both companies priding themselves in a quality over quantity attitude, choosing the premium loudspeaker manufacturer paid dividends for Novatech right from the start.

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Following its initial Kudo purchase, which the team used at multiple events and festivals such as Good Vibrations (2008) and Supafest in Sydney (2011), Novatech made headlines in 2014 after purchasing a K2 large format line source system.

It was among the first companies in the world to take on a major inventory of the newly launched system, cementing its reputation as one of Australia’s biggest supporters of L-Acoustics.

“Before the K2 system had even been unpacked, it was already booked for several key events at the end of 2014, proving it to be another successful investment on our part,” continues Novakovic.

At the Kudo launch: From left to right: Marcus Watt, Dave Usher, Menk Novakovic, Leko Novakovic, Dean Lewis.

During the following years, the Novatech team continued to grow their expertise and clientele in the event industry, mastering the art of innovative event experiences.

“Our next major L-Acoustics upgrade was in 2017, when we became the first rental company in Australia to take delivery of an L-Acoustics Syva colinear audio system,” shares Novakovic.

“Syva was the natural choice to expand our audio reinforcement product range for small to medium sized events. It debuted on the high-profile Telstra Business Awards at the Adelaide Oval’s Magarey Room later that year.”

Acquiring Syva not only brought new possibilities to the team, it also helped Novatech win multiple innovation accolades, including the Innovation Award at the Meetings & Events Australia Awards, as well as the Exceptional Innovation Award for its work on the Santos Tour Down Under at the Audio-Visual Industry Awards. (CX Mag story on Santos Tour Down Under here)

“Winning those awards was a true testament to our technical team’s innovative approach in designing a custom engineered solution to improve an events technology offering,” comments Novakovic.

“This would not have been possible without our trusted partners L-Acoustics, which is why we are now proud owners of 24 units of Syva.”

Syva at Tour Down Under. Photo Meaghan Coles.

Last year, the team helped to deploy one of the most unique installations of Syva speakers to date. Working with renowned composer and sound recordist Chris Watson on his Hrafn: Conversations with Odin immersive sound work as part of the Project X program, which was designed to bring visitors to the Tasmanian Huon Valley region after wide-spread destructive bushfires.

The Novatech team collaborated with The Wired Lab and DarkLab to design a spatialised multi-channel L-Acoustics sound installation based on Syva. (Feb 2020 full story here.)

“That was definitely one of the most surreal projects we had ever delivered and one that, quite literally, took Syva speakers to new heights,” chuckles Novakovic.

“The uniqueness of that installation was that the Syva cabinets were rigged off 15 hand-picked trees, with its slim profile perfectly blending into the surrounding environment.”

Hfran Dark Mofo speakers

Driven by the passion and commitment to employing cutting edge technology to stage exceptional events, the Novatech team once again made history by delivering what became the Southern Hemisphere’s first experience of L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology, for Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in concert.

The team deployed an extensive suite of technology for this historic event in Australia, which included using Novatech’s inventory of Kara cabinets among other delivered elements.

“We were keen to bring L-ISA technology to Australia for a live performance,” says Novakovic. “Our mission is to offer the best possible experience to the audience and new technology like L-ISA allows us to do just that.”

Novatech has been steadily growing its L-Acoustics portfolio over the years to respond to the latest industry trends and continue staging the exceptional events that have made their reputation.

“Fifteen years ago, we were still a relatively new company, finding our feet in the event industry and trying to break into the concert and touring market,” concludes Novakovic.

“I’ve heard L-Acoustics founder Christian Heil say that competition is the main driving force behind Darwinian evolution and I feel that the combination of the quality of our L-Acoustics equipment and the expertise of the Novatech team gives us a serious competitive advantage.

“We are forever ensuring sound is at the highest quality for the best live experience, and L-Acoustics helps us make that happen.”

L-Acoustics sales manager, Tim McCall, shares his own thoughts on why the partnership has flourished over the years, making both brands stronger than ever. “I first met with a young Leko, Menk, and James before they had invested in a Kudo system back in the early 2000s and already they were committed to ensuring they used the best equipment possible to help them reach their goals.

“Over my time at L-Acoustics it has been great to grow the relationship with the team and see their success still being based on their original ideas.”

“Novatech is always keen to keep up with the latest industry development, whether that is in terms of ensuring its staff are trained on the latest software suite and exciting new tools, or investing in ground-breaking products and systems – luckily L-Acoustics has a long history of introducing game-changing technologies to help them!

“The other exciting element is that they are not afraid to experiment, to try new things. Novatech came to us about using L-ISA with the ASO, they also quizzed us about using Syva to provide PA for the Tour Down Under and about hanging them from trees in a forest for Hrafn: Conversations with Odin – so it’s always an interesting discussion.

“I think Novatech is a great example of what we believe about business – a long-term partnership where technology helps passion and ideas to develop and grow – long may it continue!”

Stereosonic Adelaide 2011






CX Magazine – August 2020   

LIGHTING  |  AUDIO  |  VIDEO  |  STAGING  |  INTEGRATION
Entertainment technology news and issues for Australia and New Zealand
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