JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Of the 10 stadiums around South Africa hosting FIFA World Cup matches, nine have been equipped with Electro-Voice gear by EV distributor Prosound Ltd. Six of the stadium announcers are also using EV wireless microphones.
The World Cup competitions, taking place from June 11 to July 11, 2010, presented a significant challenge to Prosound Ltd. – four of the 10 stadiums were new constructions and the other six had to be renovated, extended or partly rebuilt.
"Ever since founding the firm over 37 years ago, I have worked closely with Electro-Voice," says Prosound MD Terry Acres. "And with good reason: Electro-Voice systems are reliable, robust, evince exceptional mechanical quality and deliver clear and balanced sound. In short: they're the ones that best meet our requirements."
Over 2,300 Electro-Voice and Dynacord loudspeakers and a variety of EV REV-D wireless microphone systems have been installed in the stadiums in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, Polokwane and Bloemfontein.
In South Africa, FRX, ZX5, SX, XLD and EVID boxes from Electro-Voice are being used, as are over 1,000 loudspeakers from Dynacord's DL800 series. (Scroll down for detailed breakdown of gear by stadium).
Prosound also installed a wide variety of enclosures, ranging from direct-radiating modules beneath balconies to line array systems designed to cover long distances, with all components fine-tuned to one another.
Prosound's history of equipping of sports stadiums goes back to 1981 when the audio firm developed and installed a comprehensive sound reinforcement system for Ellis Parks Stadium in Johannesburg.
A challenge posed in South Africa is the locally-loved vuvuzela, a meter-long plastic horn that can exceed 120 decibels. Another is the stringent set of safety norms covering cases of emergency.
But teams from EVI Audio and Prosound were able to draw on the experience they have accumulated from stadium installations around the world – South Korea in 2002, Athens in 2004 and Germany in 2006
"Long reverberation times, asymmetric architecture and boisterous fans require sound reinforcement systems and voice alarm systems to be combined, and strict TÜV-certified conformity with international standards is imperative to ensure that fans will be able not only to hear but also to understand safety announcements in case of emergency," noted Oliver Sahm, director of EVI Audio's technical support team.
"Our tech support team in Straubing, drawing on its many years of experience in the field of stadium sound, has developed solutions designed to meet such challenges and honed them to the needs of this year's tournament in South Africa with the assistance of our friends at Prosound," Sahm added.
Along with the trumpeting of vuvuzelas and the singing and chanting of fans, the audio gear chosen for the stadiums needed to ensure the intelligibility of announcements made to the multilingual fans.
Here is the detailed list of sound systems installed in South Africa's football stadiums:
1. Soccer City Stadium / Johannesburg / 94,700 spectators / Opened in 1989 – Expanded and renovated for the world championships
* 80 Electro-Voice PX2122 loudspeakers
* 48 Electro-Voice PX2152 loudspeakers
* 22 Electro-Voice SX100+ loudspeakers
* 4 Electro-Voice ZX1 loudspeakers
* 24 Dynacord DL800/25T loudspeakers
2. Green Point Stadium / Cape Town / 70,000 spectators / Newly built
* 124 Electro-Voice XLD loudspeakers
* 1 Electro-Voice REV-D wireless microphone system
3. Mbombela Stadium / Nelspruit / 64,000 spectators / Newly built
* 24 Electro-Voice FRX940Pi loudspeakers
* 24 Electro-Voice ZX5Pi loudspeakers
* 2 Electro-Voice N/D 267 microphones
* 2 Electro-Voice RE2-N7 wireless microphones
4. Coca Cola (Ellis) Park / Johannesburg / 70.000 spectators / Opened in 1928 / Rebuilt in 1982 – Expanded and renovated for the world championships
* 62 Electro-Voice ZX5-60Pi loudspeakers
* 20 Electro-Voice SX100+ loudspeakers
* 395 Dynacord DL800/25T loudspeakers
5. 5. Loftus Stadium / Pretoria / 50,000 spectators / Opened in 1906 – Expanded and renovated for the world championships
* 36 Electro-Voice ZX5-Pl loudspeakers
* 14 Electro-Voice PX2152 loudspeakers
* 17 Electro-Voice ZX1 loudspeakers
* 56 Electro-Voice Evid 4.2T loudspeakers
* 8 Electro-Voice Zx1i-100T loudspeakers
* 16 Electro-Voice SX100+ loudspeakers
* 232 Dynacord DL800/10T loudspeakers
* 93 Dynacord DL800/15T loudspeakers
6. Nelson Mandela Bay / Port Elizabeth / 48,000 spectators / Newly built
* 8 Electro-Voice FRX940Pi loudspeakers
* 28 Electro-Voice FRX660Pi loudspeakers
* 20 Electro-Voice FRX640Pi loudspeakers
* 132 Electro-Voice EVID FM4.2 loudspeakers
* 2 Electro-Voice N/D767 microphones
* 1 Electro-Voice REV-D wireless microphone system
7. Free State Stadium / Bloemfontein / 48,000 spectators / Year of construction: 1952 – Expanded and rebuilt for the world championships
* 2 Electro-Voice FRX940Pi loudspeakers
* 10 Electro-Voice FRX660Pi loudspeakers
* 10 Electro-Voice ZX5-60Pi loudspeakers
* 69 Electro-Voice SX300Pi loudspeakers
* 36 Electro-Voice EVID 6.2T loudspeakers
* 1 Electro-Voice REV-D wireless microphone system
* 66 Dynacord DL800/15T loudspeakers
* 120 Dynacord DL86 loudspeakers
8. Peter Mokaba Stadium / Polokwane / 46,000 spectators / Newly built
* 10 Electro-Voice FRX660Pi loudspeakers
* 12 Electro-Voice ZX5-60Pi loudspeakers
* 28 Electro-Voice PX2122 loudspeakers
* 1 Electro-Voice REV-D wireless microphone system
* 49 Dynacord DL800/15T loudspeakers
* 236 Dynacord SP20D loudspeakers
* 20 Dynacord SP20 loudspeakers
9. Royal Bafokeng Stadium / Rustenburg / 42,000 spectators / Year of construction: 1999 – Expanded and rebuilt for the world championships
* 8 Electro-Voice FRX660Pi loudspeakers
* 6 Electro-Voice ZX5-60Pi loudspeakers
* 12 Electro-Voice PX122 loudspeakers
* 60 Electro-Voice EVID 4.2T loudspeakers
* 1 Electro-Voice REV-D wireless microphone system
* 70 Dynacord DL800/15T loudspeakers
For more information, please visit www.electro-voice.com.
