The Latest Industry News for the Exciting World of Production.

K-Tek, the company that introduced the first made-in-USA, graphite, telescoping pole 25 years ago, announces major advances to their award-winning Klassic Boom Poles. To keep up with the demands of today's professional boom operator, the new KlassicPro incorporates the best features of the original, including: lightweight high-density graphite tubing, modular bases, quick-locking and quiet handling. Still built in the original shop in Vista, California, each KlassicPro is made with the same care and attention to detail as the original.

The new design offers increased interchangeability. That's where K-Tek's new removable headpiece comes in. Gone are the soldered and sealed poles of the past. Today's redesigned headpiece simply threads on and off the tube smoothly. The cable of choice can be removed or installed-without soldering. The boom pole is readily transformed to un-cabled, coil cabled, straight cabled or with a transmitter at the top or the bottom. There are no more time-consuming transformations and no need to purchase a completely new system just to comply with a cabling change.

The removable headpiece makes field reconfiguration practical. To support this, K-Tek has created a higher quality coiled cable featuring a brand new, low profile right angle connector. The new KlassicPro Cable incorporates thicker gauge wiring and aluminum shielding to make it both stronger and ultra-protected from?radio frequency (RF) interference. The new KlassicPro Right Angle connector is smaller, lighter, serviceable, and made with the popular Neutrik connector as its base. A new solid strain relief makes the Right Angle connector remarkably robust while securely holding the wiring in place. As an added benefit, the connector orientation can be changed by simply removing two screws, rotating it to the desired position, and locking it back in place. These improvements all add up to a much-desired lighter load on top of the pole.

K-Tek has designed poles that are more rigid and have a shorter collapsed length that is preferred in today's production environment. KlassicPro's maintain the original light weight of the tubes, yet the new design features added strength. Also, adding a sixth section and wider tubes increases the stiffness and optimizes handling balance. The result is quicker cuing and more user control of the microphone.

Another new benefit is a change to the locking collars. The traditional K-Tek captive collett has been modified with a thicker yet smoother surface allowing for more subtle gradual extension of each section. A new anodizing process combined with changing the exterior dimples to oval divets gives a better grip and smoother feel when opening and closing each collar. The finish between the tubes has also been modified so the KlassicPro sleekly glides open and closed.

New KlassicPro poles are hand-burnished to diffuse handling noise. They come in a choice of 4 six-section models: 9' (KP9), 12' (KP12), 16' (KP16), and 20' (KP20), extended lengths. Coiled Cable and Straight Cable kits can be purchased separately or in a pre-configured boom pole package. Bottom right-angle XLR bases (KPCCR), Flow-through bases (KPFT) and the popular Side Kick Transmitter adapter (KPTA) is also improved.

K-Tek KlassicPro Boom Poles are available from authorized K-Tek dealers. For more information email tino@ktekpro.com or visit www.ktekpro.com

About K-Tek

Since it's founding in 1996 by Manfred N Klemme, K-Tek has supported the audio world with innovative tools to make the sound engineer and boom operator's jobs smoother. With a passion for audio, Manfred's first mission was to design and manufacture a line of U.S. made boom poles that were lightweight, strong and so audio friendly that folks took notice. Mission accomplished-in 1999 K-Tek won a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Klassic Boom Pole. Since then, K-Tek has earned many other awards and the reputation of making elegantly designed and beautifully constructed, audio-centric products including: Avalon graphite and aluminum boom poles, shock mounts, Shark Antenna mount and Fuzzy & Topper windscreens. K-Tek's growing Stingray line includes, Sound mixer bags, Waist Belt, a back-saving Audio Harness, plus accessory bags and pouches. Visit: www.ktekpro.com.