The concept for Oklahoma City’s Zoo Amphitheatre dates back decades, with the venue starting out as a WPA Depression-era work project that began in 1936. Today, 88 years later, the venue stands as a popular summer performance destination for local and national acts, including Willie Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top and The Eurythmics.
For the 2024 summer season, the lineup included Legends of Hip Hop (Ice Cube, E-40 and Bone Thug-N-Harmony), Blues Traveler, Howard Jones, Flaming Lips, Slightly Stoopid, CAKE and Benson Moore, among others. All would be needing to deliver a sonic impact to the crowds drawn to the 7,000-capacity outdoor lawn / shed venue. At the same time, the system would have to be designed to eliminate, or keep to a minimum, the number of noise complaints from nearby residents.
Prior to the Zoo Amphitheatre’s 2024 summer season, SaveLive, an independent venue management organization founded in 2020 to bring scalable services and advantages to independent venue owners and secondary markets, began looking for a flexible and powerful (yet controllable) sound system versatile enough to handle almost any genre of music.
SaveLive was particularly interested in K-array’s flagship Firenze KH8 speaker system, which offers high fidelity, high-SPL performance and beam steering. “That feature was crucial for us, as we needed a solution that could deliver exceptional sound quality while minimizing noise bleed into the neighboring community,” says Lindsey Dubey, SaveLive’s director of back of house operations.
As it turned out, that system was available through Miller Pro Audio (millerproaudio.com), a sound / video / staging / backline lighting provider with facilities in Fort Worth, Austin, Lubbock and Oklahoma City. And since Miller Pro Audio has more than two decades of experience working thousands of concerts, events, tours and installations throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Miller Pro Audio was the ideal choice.
The System
The system for the OKC Zoo Amphitheater summer concert series consisted of left and right hangs, each having nine K-array’s Slim Array Technology (SAT) Firenze KH8 enclosures with onboard DSP and Electronic Beam Steering (EBS).
Each KH8 has eight 8” woofers, eight 4” cone mid drivers and four HF compression drivers — all with neodymium magnets in a 46×19.7×7.9” stainless steel enclosure weighing 160 pounds, including the eight onboard 2,000W Class-D amplifiers capable of 145 dB max SPLs. Horizontal dispersion is 120°; vertical spread is digitally adjustable via Electronic Beam Steering.
Bottom-end was handled by 12 Firenze-KS8, self-powered, weather-resistant subwoofers, each providing a peak output of 148 dB SPL. The wood-enclosure KS8 features IPAL technology, includes a powerful 8,500W amplifier module, a differential pressure sensor, a “zero latency” DSP and two 21” specifically designed high-efficiency transducers. The Firenze-KS8 is also integrated in the EASE Focus simulation software to give endless possibilities of configurations such as cardioid, virtual arc — and/or whatever the venue will require.
Both the KH8 mains and KS-8 subwoofers are IP-45 weather rated and available in basic black or RAL colors.
The system’s state-of-the-art rigging also lets users pre-cable stacks of three units to fly a straight 24-unit cluster in less than 10 minutes. This is possible, because it is not necessary to dismount the entire cluster — the speakers are anchored in groups of three within rigid frames that can be connected quickly to create longer clusters. Compared to traditional systems that require wiring and a mechanical connection for each speaker, the KH8 cuts down on time for a cost-sensitive solution.
“It’s quite a system, especially how EASE Focus seamlessly interacts with Powersoft’s Armonia software” says David Rees, K-array’s director of business development, production and touring. “And the KH8’s beam steering really does work. One key objective from the client SaveLive was to mitigate sound bleed into a neighborhood across the street.”
Meeting Venue Requirements
Rick Camp — a noted FOH and studio engineer who has worked with Madonna, J-Lo, Beyoncé and Chris Brown — has a lot of experience with K-Array systems, including the KH8, and he was brought on as a consultant on the project.
“Rick Camp, K-array USA’s Rusty Waite and I put together a beam steering plan that would have the energy from the top boxes end along the venue’s back fence,” confirms Rees. “And the P.A. performed exactly as we said it would. Being able to be that precise was very cool. We were also impressed by how far the system could throw, so we didn’t need delays.”
Rees adds that “another advantage comes from the system’s compactness and ease of flying, which saves on labor needs and trucking costs. Six people can put up a KH-8 rig with in just 10-15 minutes per side. It’s a more effective way of touring.”
SaveLive’s Lindsey Dubey also gave the system two thumbs up. “The K-array Firenze system exceeded our expectations,” Dubey notes. “Its ability to be tailored to our specific needs ensured that sound was directed precisely where it was intended, significantly reducing the impact on surrounding areas. This was not just a selling point; it proved to be a game-changer in achieving the acoustic clarity we desired while maintaining good relations with the local community.”
That’s not the only plus with the system, according to Dubey. “Another standout feature of the K-array system is its compact design. The system’s ease of deployment was remarkable; it significantly cut down time and costs on the build and breakdown of the show. Overall,” Dubey concludes, “the K-array P.A. system delivered on all fronts. Its customization capabilities, compact size, and efficient deployment made it an ideal choice for our needs at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre.”
For more info, visit www.k-array.com.
