Once upon a time, the only “high performance” involved in sports facilities came from the players. Typically, when it came to the installed sound system, the audio emanated from clunky overhead “junkyard” clusters or the ubiquitous “horns on a stick” scattered around the field. In those days, the audio — while often fine for reproducing a gravel-voiced announcer — was anything but hi-fi.
Flash-forward to 2014, and those days are thankfully long gone. Today’s fans expect — and deserve — a system with audio reproduction that’s capable of rock ‘n’ roll SPLs, wide, smooth frequency response and superb vocal intelligibility. And modern integrators and contractors have been delivering just that, with excellent results.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at a range of recent successful stadium and arena installation projects, covering a wide range of venues handling a variety of sports activities. So if you’re ready to rock, let’s play ball!
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York
Part of a $4.9-billion sports/entertainment/residential/industrial complex known as the Atlantic Yards, the 18,000-plus capacity Barclays Center opened in 2012 and hosts the Brooklyn Nets. In 2015, the center will become the home of the NHL’s New York Islanders hockey team.
The Eastern Acoustic Works house system in Barclays Center’s main bowl features six hangs, each with 10 EAW KF740 large-format line array enclosures and four EAW SB1001 subwoofers, all powered by 43 Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q four-channel amplifiers, generating a total of 210,000 watts.
The upper reaches of the bowl are covered by a distributed system featuring 40 EAW MK2366 12-inch, two-way compact trapezoidal full-range enclosures, which also fill in under the scoreboard. The system was designed by Parsons Technologies in collaboration with the Dallas-based A/V consulting firm Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams, Inc. (WJHW).
“Many times I get asked why the sound system at Barclays sounds so incredibly good,” notes Parsons Technologies’ field systems engineer Dave Potts. “I always answer that a team of people designed the system — not any one person.” That team consisted of Parsons Technologies Engineering staff, consultants from WJHW, the rigging designers from Polar Focus and experts from EAW.
“Each team member had invaluable input as to the final system design and ultimately the excellent outcome,” Potts continues. “Of course, many kudos must also go out to the excellent operational team which runs the system at Barclays and keep it sounding good at all times during events.”
Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
Known to locals as “The Can,” the 20,000-plus capacity Pepsi Center is home of the NBA Denver Nuggets, NHL Colorado Avalanche and the National Lacrosse League Colorado Mammoth, as well as frequent concerts and special events. The arena has been in continuous use since it opened in 1999. Last year, after deciding to upgrade to a massive new state-of-the-art scoreboard, management determined the time was right to replace the venue’s entire audio system.
Colorado Springs-based sound contractor LVW Electronics and Dallas system designers WJHW were retained to perform the upgrade, using all-Harman components. Unfortunately, due to event scheduling commitments, the job — which should have required three months — had to be completed in seven weeks.
The new system features JBL loudspeakers, with six columns of 10 JBL VLA901-MF-16 large-format line arrays hung around the perimeter of the arena. Additionally, four JBL ASB6128V dual-18 subs are hung directly behind the each of the 10 main line arrays. All are powered by 44 Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifiers, plus 11 Crown CTs 2000 amps to drive additional loudspeakers at the back of the arena.
The system is networked via four BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-806 signal processors and six BLU-326 I/O expanders, both Dante-enabled products. Control for the entire audio system at the Pepsi Center is provided by Harman HiQnet Audio Architect software.
“This installation turned out fantastic in terms of equal coverage to every area of the arena,” said LVW CEO Rusty Griffith. “The performance of the VLA loudspeakers and the subwoofers is so consistent that there’s very little seat-to-seat variation. The Pepsi Center project turned out to be one of the best examples of this I have heard.”
In addition to its capability as a full stand-alone sound reinforcement system, the new system is designed so it can be used along with a tour sound system for concerts and other events. If a band or a convention comes to town and their rental system doesn’t have enough coverage, they can readily connect to the Pepsi Center system to supplement the audio.
Signal Iduna Park
Dortmund, Germany
The largest soccer stadium in Germany, the 80,000-capacity Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund hosts the highly successful Borussia Dortmund team. After complaints about intelligibility, inadequate LF response and poor coverage, the facility recently sanctioned a radical upgrade to its audio system, provided by RCF.
The planning and design of the system was a joint venture between RCF’s Engineering Support Group, working in conjunction with integrators Fulfil Engineering GmbH, who initiated, coordinated and supervised the project.
Besides achieving higher intelligibility, even pattern control and extended bass response the new system employs RCF’s proprietary RDNet DSP and additional monitoring electronics offering remote parameter control, troubleshooting and performance checking. The software system went a step further, linking the voice evacuation and P.A. systems into a unified network.
The main rig has a total of 196 RCF TTL33-A MKII active line array elements, in 14 clusters, each with 14 TTL33-A’s and a TTS26-A sub. All loudspeaker enclosures are active and wrapped around overhead beams to keep sightlines intact. The 196 active line array elements were specially weatherized, with coated cone drivers, stainless steel hardware and all wooden enclosures painted with polyurethane both inside and out.
The TTS26-A sub at the top of each hang provides further control. In addition to extending the frequency range, the subwoofers also function as an end-fired cardioid and provides control of the LF down to 60 Hz, thereby helping to reduce reflections.
The EASE 4.3 predictions provided the design architecture to develop a fully optimized system, setting the splay angles and placements of the hangs, which are spaced equidistant, some 20 meters apart. The curved, caterpillar-like design of the hangs — installed around the steel beams — brings the advantages of both point source technology (with the end speakers) and linear distribution (around the curvature in the center) so it is effective over the entire frequency range.
Although a function of the TTL33-A acoustic design is to be able to EQ and adjust the pattern control via DSP, in Dortmund the optimization is carried out simply by the mechanical curving of the array. “As a result,” explains RCF’s Norbert Wessel, “we maintain maximum audio output and constant behavior over the whole array up to highest levels.”
American Airlines Arena
Miami, Florida
Located along Miami’s scenic Biscayne Bay, the 19,600-capacity American Airlines Arena is home to the NBA’s Miami Heat basketball team while also serving as a leading venue for concerts and other attractions. When the time came to replace the arena’s aging upper delay ring and outdoor perimeter area loudspeaker systems, the HEAT Group (the company responsible for facility maintenance, upgrades, etc.) elected to install Artec and Avant series loudspeakers from D.A.S. Audio.
HEAT had previously worked with D.A.S. through rental companies and had purchased modified D.A.S. Aero 28A’s for the scoreboard loudspeaker system. So after careful review, HEAT’s Dave Vickery elected to place 30 D.A.S. Artec dual 6-inch 26TW-IP-54 loudspeakers, 10 Artec dual-8-inch 28TW-IP-54 and 20 powered Avant 15A systems throughout the arena.
“The Avant 15A’s are cable hung, using custom mounts that allow for periodic rising for maintenance or servicing. All 20 15A’s are hung from the upper catwalk that covers the entire inner perimeter of the upper arena bowl. We chose the Avant 15A’s for their high quality sound, integrated power amplifier and their ability to blend in nicely with the main audio cluster arrays,” says Vickery.
“With the new upgraded system, we now process and power our entire arena P.A. system with Lake processors and Lab.gruppen amps with Lake processors integrated into them. Now, we can control and monitor all activity regarding amp output, thermal monitoring, speaker driver activity and so on,” Vickery adds. “Equally noteworthy, powering down remotely via software is crucial to extending the lifespan of the equipment. We are very happy with the improved sound performance.”
Pat Rafter Arena
Tennyson, Australia
The Queensland Tennis Centre is located in Tennyson, Brisbane, Australia and consists of 23 international standard tennis courts. The center-court Pat Rafter Arena installed a new speaker system from FBT’s Shadow series in December 2013. The system was ready just in time for the Brisbane International tennis tournament, which attracts some of the world’s top players. Record crowds were reported for the 2013/14 event, with some 105,000 fans attending the tournament over eight days in late December/early January.
The system is based on a distributed design using a mix of FBT Shadow 112CT and 112HC speakers. Both models are 12-inch coaxial designs with the 112HC being horn-loaded for longer-throw applications. The FBT Shadow series are rated to IP55 and are designed for extreme weather conditions, made from a one-piece rotomolded enclosure with stainless steel hardware and a unique water-stop grill. The Shadow series provide highly intelligible speech and quality music playback. The Shadow Series is a family of outdoor rated speakers from a 5-inch two-way to eight- and 12-inch coaxial models, plus a flyable subwoofer and a high-SPL outdoor line array system.
The Pat Rafter Arena has a seating capacity of 5,500 and acoustically is difficult, due to the open air nature of the venue. Quite a bit of time was spent in the design phase with EASE simulation software, working on the best speaker locations and angles — the aim being to provide consistent coverage while minimizing reflections.
Five County Stadium
Zebulon, North Carolina
Five County Stadium, home to the Carolina Mudcats Double-A baseball team, has undergone an extensive sound system upgrade. The facility has an official seating capacity of 6,500, with a standing-room-only overflow capacity of 2,000 more. Stadium management contracted Winterville, NC-based design/build firm Sound Advice to revamp the facility.
“We tested a center field configuration, which covered the seats perfectly, but the noticeable delay proved unacceptable for the type of entertainment shows the Mudcats wanted to produce,” says Sound Advice president David Evans. “We then decided to install the loudspeakers at the rear of the spectator areas — facing out onto the field. This approach required very precise dispersion and level control, so as not to blast spectators close to the loudspeakers while minimizing sound wave reflections to maintain speech intelligibility.”
Sound Advice deployed 10 WorxAudio X2 line arrays throughout the upper seating levels. Designed as a compact, all-in-one line array, the X2 incorporates two modules, each having a 1-inch exit compression driver paired with dual 8-inch cone transducers, with all models weatherized using fiberglass exteriors, baseball-proof stainless steel grills and mesh.
“The X2’s have two modules — a top module with 10-degree vertical dispersion and a bottom downfill module with 25-degree dispersion. This design enabled us to reach those people seated at the further most distance with the same volume level as the spectators seated directly beneath the loudspeakers, so no one gets blasted. The upper 10-degree module also enabled us to control the amount of audio that actually reached the field. The audio effectively ceased at the pitcher’s mound and, thus, eliminated unwanted reflections coming back to the spectators.”
LF support is provided by eight WorxAudio Wave Series 218S subs. Five enclosures are positioned throughout the seating areas—pole mounted adjacent to first and third bases with another between third base and home plate and two enclosures mounted on the press box wall. The remaining three subs reside in the concourse area.
Additional equipment includes nine WorxAudio Wave Series 8A two-way enclosures throughout the concourse. Ten Technomad Vernal 15T loudspeakers are placed under the concourse at field level for those seats not covered by the other speakers. QSC PLX-3602 amps drive all loudspeaker systems and a 16-channel Allen & Heath WZ3:16:2 console accommodates feeds from additional sources for entertainment or other functions.
Adler Arena Skating Center
Sochi, Russia
The Adler Arena Trade and Exhibition Center in the Olympic Park, Sochi, Russia, features a skating oval, which hosted the speed skating competitions during the 2014 Winter Olympics. The 8,000-seat venue was built at a cost of $32.8 million.
One Systems’ supplied 36 of its two-way 212IM (double 12-inch woofers with large format horn/driver) loudspeakers were distributed throughout the Adler Arena Skating Center in Olympic Park. Designed for use in direct weather outdoor installations, they were ideal for the cavernous skating venue.
The system was resistant to any ill effects from the cold and wet environment and offered both the directional sonic clarity and vocal intelligibility the arena required.
