Stadia

Cycling - Palma Arena, Spain

Valencia, Spain. The magnificent Palma Arena indoor cycling track, situated in the city of Palma de Majorca, has gained a reputation as the major sports centre of the Balearic Islands and as one of the best indoor cycling tracks in the world. The main function of this multipurpose sports hall is to host indoor cycling trials, hence its traditional banked track. As part of its equipment the centre includes a sound system installed by Portillo Telecomunicaciones, S.L., using D.A.S. Audio.

For the main sound system, Portillo installed D.A.S. Sound Touring series products, specifically the ST-1510. On the centre’s spectacular central roof - the design of which was inspired by the spoked wheel of a bicycle - 38 ST-1510 units have been installed in five different areas: a central area with eight units directed downwards to serve the middle of the sports hall, and another six units in each of the four sections into which the roof is divided, pointing in all directions to provide greater uniformity of coverage. To reinforce low frequencies 16 CA-215 subwoofer units have been strategically placed on the second amphitheatre of the grandstands, which is likewise divided into four areas.

The paging and emergency messaging systems are comprised of 510 Factor 5T units and 450 Ceiling series CL-6T units have been placed along the length of the corridors and in the access areas. This guarantees perfect coverage of each of the nearly 90,000 m2 that make up the centre’s surface area. All of these units are equipped with line transformers to facilitate correct installation in distributed systems. Both the Factor series and the Ceiling series loudspeakers are attractive in design, helping them fit in to any modern architectural space, of which the Palma Arena cycle track is an example.

Signal amplification of the systems has been carried out using two series. A total of 27 “H” series power amplifiers have been employed to provide power for the sound systems in the main area and the subwoofer systems. A further 45 “CSA” series amplifiers are responsible for supplying the signal to the nearly 1,000 units of the Factor and Ceiling systems which make up the centre’s paging and emergency public address system. The control and distribution of the signal for the installation as a whole is provided by 24 DSP-26 digital processors which offer both high performance and flexibility.

This major project, carried out by Portillo Telecomunicaciones, was backed-up by D.A.S. Audio’s Engineering Department as part of the company’s philosophy of working in collaboration with clients on large-scale projects.

This multipurpose sports centre is equipped with 5,000 fixed seats and can be used for a wide variety of different sports. A further 2,000 temporary seats can be added for the celebration of bigger events, such as the recent exhibition tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on a double court of clay and grass - dubbed the ‘Battle of the Surfaces’.

Baseball - Wrigley Field, USA

From the manually operated centre-field scoreboard to the ivy-covered outfield walls and visions of Harry Caray enthusiastically rousing fans through the seventh inning stretch, few baseball venues can command such vivid imagery as Wrigley Field, home to MLB’s Chicago Cubs.

Now, thanks to a recent upgrade of the ballpark’s audio system incorporating Crown CTs Series amplifiers loaded with Harman Pro HiQnet™-compatible network control modules, Wrigley Field rounds out the complete lineup of Chicago’s major sports venues - including Soldier Field (NFL Bears), U.S. Cellular Field (MLB White Sox) and United Center (NBA Bulls) - powered by Crown.

The Cubs organization has been updating the audio system at Wrigley as part of a multiple-phase expansion project, upgrading amplifiers to units with more power as speakers are replaced. Furthermore, the facility’s operational staff had expressed an interest in the ability to monitor the system remotely.

Dallas-based design and consulting firm Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW) was brought in as the consultant on the project with Advent Systems of nearby Elmhurst serving as the contractor.

Under WJHW’s specification, the latest system upgrade included 11 Crown CTs amplifiers (CTs 3000 and CTs 600 models) equipped with PIP-Lite cards, BSS Soundweb London for processing and JBL loudspeakers, among other things. This upgrade complements the previously completed expansion of the outfield bleacher section, which benefits from the same pro audio equipment, and enables the two separate systems to be linked together via CobraNet™.

Choosing Crown for Wrigley Field wasn’t a difficult decision for WJHW. “The stadium already had Crown amps existing when we began the project, namely Com-Techs that were installed back in the ‘80s,” notes WJHW Associate Jack McCallum. “Since we weren’t replacing all of the back-of-house equipment, we went with Crown to make the system more uniform. Besides, Crown has always given us good support; we never have any heartburn specifying their products.”

Built in 1914, when it was known as Weegham Park, Wrigley Field is now one of the oldest active major league ballparks, second only to Boston’s Fenway Park. The stadium itself was built on the site of a former seminary, which could explain why so many people describe seeing a game there as a “religious experience.”

Ice Hockey - Eishalle, Germany

At the end of last season, the Straubing Tigers won promotion to the highest division of the German Ice Hockey League (or “Bundesliga”). To meet the increased technical demands, the team’s management has now invested in a new sound system for the Eishalle in Straubing, where the team plays its home games. Assisted by a support team from EVI Audio, they opted for state-of-the-art systems from Electro-Voice and Dynacord.

The existing systems in the Eishalle-boxes from EV’s Sx series-were not sacrificed to the new sound concept but rather intelligently repositioned. Now they serve as the delay line in the newly created upper tier of the hall’s south side. All the other grandstands are served by FRX 660PI systems from Electro-Voice driven in bi-amping mode-speakers that demonstrated their outstanding audio quality and absolute reliability at a number of stadiums (including those in Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Hanover) during soccer’s World Cup, and have already established an outstanding reputation in the fixed installation sector.

Nineteen of these coaxial, horn-loaded two-way systems now guarantee the even distribution of direct sound to all spectators. The upshot is optimal intelligibility, despite the long reverberation time typical of most ice stadiums. Furthermore, the presence of a 15” driver to handle the LF/MF range makes full-range music reproduction possible. Further investment in sub-bass systems was therefore deemed unnecessary.

The heart of the new system is a Dynacord P64 signal processor. Behind it lies a 32 x 32 matrix with a freely programmable DSP structure and a processing capacity expandable to 1000 MIPS (million instructions per second). Equipped with a microphone input card and an audio output card, the system allows input signals to be routed flexibly, easily adaptable to any application, be it hockey match venue, skating rink or ice discotheque.

Football - Torun Stadium, Poland

A new sports arena, designed primarily for athletics and football, has recently been completed in the beautiful city of Torun, on the Wisla River in Northern Poland. The city stadium currently seats about 5,000, but with the future capacity anticipated to be around 12,000. The objective for the stadium was to have a fully mobile system to drive the permanently installed Community R and WET Series loudspeakers. This provides for operating the system from two locations: the jury tower and from the ground level of the arena.

The system was designed and commissioned in-time and on-budget by Wojciech Zielinski and his Warsaw-based company, Tommex, with in-house loudspeaker system simulation using EASE 4.1 by Elisabeth Zielinski. Meeting the architect’s specification for the project, all cables for the loudspeaker system were hidden inside the structural components of the stadium and all loudspeakers and connections were made totally weatherproof.

The loudspeaker system is a combination of central and distributed solutions. The central system uses two Community R2-52 long throw devices that are equipped with two 12-inch woofers, two 2-inch exit compression MF drivers, and one 1-inch exit compression HF driver. These are supplemented by two Community R.5-HPT, which provide side fill.
“Those four loudspeakers cover all open parts of the stadium, with an average SPL of almost 92dB, theoretical and measured,” explained Zielinski. “Thanks to DSP, used for separate management of every loudspeaker group, the four 12-inch woofers in the R2s also provide an effective subwoofer function for the main stand.” The distributed system for the covered main stand is mounted under the roof and consists of six WET 2W8T wide dispersion loudspeakers, with six R.25-94 ZT loudspeakers for the upper part.

The installation was prepared to coincide with the building of the roof. “Scheduling was done with the general contractor and subcontractor who handled electrical works,” said Zielinski. “This significantly lowered installation costs as all wiring for loudspeakers and mountings were processed in conjunction with other building processes - using the same workers and equipment but under my supervision.” Zielinski concludes: “Once more Community has proved its position as market leader for loudspeaker systems for sport facilities; a specialised product is always far better and more economical than something just adapted for the application. What is especially important for me, as the systems designer, is Community’s honest and accurate specifications; knowing that the results of the simulation will always correspond precisely to the measurements of the completed system. For all-weather applications with complete reliability, Community is outstanding.”

Boxing - Sarasota County, USA

Sarasota County Fairgrounds, Florida, was the location and LSC’s maXim™ XXLP was the real winner. Robarts Arena is a multi-purpose venue with a seating capacity of 4000. It was also the venue for a bout between local China Smith aka “The Dragon” and an unknown, where Smith punished his opponent with a ‘knock out’ in the first round.

The 72Kw Par-Can show was controlled using an LSC maXim™ XXLP, provided by Piston Sound. The owner of Piston Sound, Leon Pitts purchased the maXim™ more than 12 months ago, and has used the console on a number of productions including: large and small concerts, fashion shows and now boxing matches throughout the Florida region. The maXim’s powerful features and user-friendly design made controlling the lights simple and a blessing for the production crew.

The maXim™ is available in six models, from 24 faders to 120 faders, and the optional PaTPad™ moving light controller further extends its capabilities by adding features like palettes, groups, presets, a powerful effects engine and FAN functions. The large number of built-in standard shapes and the ability to create your own custom patterns ensures that the maXim™ takes all the hard work out of programming a show.

Ice Hockey - Arena Mytischi, Russia

A Robe moving light rig has been installed at the new Arena Mytischi near Moscow by Bossman Show Equipment, one of Robe’s official Russian distributors.

The arena covers a 16,000m2 area and is located 15km from the outskirts of Moscow. This new state-of-the-art 9,000 capacity sports facility offers two ice hockey fields, six buffet areas, a restaurant, bar, six banqueting halls and 26 VIP Lounges.

When there are no sporting events, the arena is used as a public skating facility. Concerts of all types are also staged there, making it the city’s foremost cultural and leisure hub.
The venue’s managers decided that buying their own in-house sound and lighting equipment was a more efficient and cost-effective route than renting it in each time they had a major concert, event or sports fixture.

Bossman’s Dmitry Prokhorov was asked to design the lighting scheme when the company was brought onboard as the project’s production sound and lighting consultants. They specified all the venue’s sound and lighting equipment and pre-programmed the Hog iPC lighting console.

Two 40m trusses are installed along either side of the main space, running along each side of the field of play.

Arena Mytischi has 28m of headroom, with each truss trimmed at 10m as the standard set up, but this is variable as the trusses are rigged on hoists. Each truss offers a mixture of Robe fixtures - two ColorWash 1200 ATs, two ColorSpot 1200 ATs, 10 ColorWash 575 ATs, 8 Robe Scan 1200 XTs and two Robe Fog 1500 FTs plus five 1800 W strobes per side. There are also two 4K architectural wash luminaires either side.

The design has allowed for full flexibility, so equipment can be de-rigged and re-rigged in different configurations as needed, depending on the requirements of the event.

Robe equipment was chosen as the best option for the operational and technical needs of the venue – the ice rink environment is a harsh one for any mechanical or electronic kit, so only the toughest fixtures were considered. They also needed really bright units to deal with the high trim height. Finally, Robe was also specified because it fitted the budget.

"Robe has many advantages, including reliability, an excellent price/quality ratio and good technical service and support” confirms Prokhorov.

Bossman has also used Robe equipment in several other installations, so its capabilities were well known. These include the Triumph Concert Hall in Lubertsy, Moscow region; the CSKA Moscow basketball arena, the International University Concert Hall, Moscow and the State Musical Comedy Theatre in Krasnoyarsk.

The Arena Mytischi lights are primarily used to illuminate and project onto the ice before ice hockey matches and skating competitions, so the main functions utilized are gobo projections, beam shape effects, strobe, etc. The rig is also used to light concerts – on its own as well as combined with lighting production brought in by artists.

One of the first events taking advantage of the Robe installation was the Russian Figure Skating Championships, when they were utilized for the opening ceremony and for various show performances.

Current events taking place at Arena Mytischi include the World Hockey Championships – where it is hosting preliminary, qualifying and relegation rounds. The arena is also home to the Khimik ice hockey team from Voskresensk, so regular Russian National Championship games take place there.

A Robe lighting rig is also installed at the Cez Arena in Ostrava, one of the Czech Republic’s premier ice hockey venues.

Travsport - Mantorp Circuit, Sweden

In Sweden, Travsport (trotting or harness racing) is second only to soccer in terms of nationwide popularity. Huge crowds attend the races, where horses race round a dirt circuit pulling jockeys on two-wheeled buggies.

When installation company Mediacenter was awarded the contract to upgrade the audio system at the trotting circuit in the nearby town of Mantorp, it was an obvious choice to seamlessly integrate Yamaha’s product excellence with Mediacenter’s installation expertise, installing a networked audio solution of unrivalled quality.

The 6000-capacity Mantorp circuit is Sweden’s third biggest trotting stadium and, technically, the installation was very sophisticated. The quality of the distributed sound from microphone to audience had to be excellent in both the indoor facilities and around the huge outdoor track, while ease of use for the staff was also a key priority.

Timed to be completed in time for one of the circuit’s biggest events of the year, the winter V75 race, the reliability of Yamaha’s equipment and Mediacenter’s expertise of had to be 100%. But by dovetailing perfectly together, they ensured that the ambitious project passed off without a hitch.

Because of Travsport’s huge popularity, it’s also a sport which generates massive income. So the audio quality of the new system needed to be of the highest quality - quality which could easily be delivered by Yamaha’s Installation series and Concert Club series loudspeakers, driven by XH, XP and XM series amplifers, which deliver crystal clear, powerful audio but without any colouration.

Controlling and mixing the audio is an ICP1 intelligent control panel which works with a DME64 digital mix engine equipped with two MY16-AE 16-channel AES/EBU I/O cards, one MY8-AE, eight channel AES/EBU I/O card, three DA-824 8ch D/A converters and two AD8-HR microphone preamps/AD converters.

The DME64 is both the heart and the mind of the system, controlling a range of microphone and line level sources, allowing the triggering of sounds and pre-recorded segments by GPI (General Purpose Interface). The system is set up to provide 23 completely separate audio zones.

Driven by the XM4080 amplifiers, 20 Concert Club series C112V speakers are installed under an exterior roof which runs along the venue’s restaurant, at the race finish. The C112Vs are complemented by the track’s original horn loudspeakers, now driven by Yamaha XH200 amps. However, unlike the original system, the versatility of the DME64 means that it delays these speakers to provide a much more uniform and clearly intelligible external sound.

The rest of the loudspeakers are installed within the track’s various indoor facilities. The betting hall features eight Installation series IF2112s driven by two XP2500 amplifiers, while 12 IF2112s and eight time-delayed IF2108s are located in the restaurant, driven by six more XP2500s. Perfect audio quality is especially important here because it’s where, as Mattias Björkman says, “the people with the big money sit.”

There is also a public area featuring four further IF2112s, driven by another XP2500, while four conference areas feature two IF2205 speakers in each area, driven by an XM4080 amplifier.

Basketball - Hilton Coliseum, USA

In a continuing trend of minor league and college sports venues installing audio systems typically found on the major league level, SPL Integrated Solutions recently designed and installed the new, upgraded audio system in the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University. Located in Ames, the 14,092-seat Hilton Coliseum is home to the Iowa State University Cyclones basketball, volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics teams.

The Hilton Coliseum opened in 1971, having undergone several audio/video system upgrades since then. In 2006, another retrofit was in order. SPL Integrated Solutions installed a system featuring JBL PD5000 Series loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers and BSS Soundweb London processing. Six main clusters hang from the ceiling, with four comprised of five JBL PD5322/64 loudspeakers and the two side clusters each containing three PD5322/43 loudspeakers each. Additionally, SPL installed a delay ring of 14 PD5212/64 loudspeakers.

According to Jim Johnson of SPL, the project posed a few novel challenges. “The main reason the arena needed a new sound system was to rearrange the clusters around the new scoreboard,” he said. “Additionally, these clusters needed to be removable so the weight of the speakers is taken off the roof for concerts.”

To accomplish this, SPL designed a moveable chain system onto which the clusters are set, enabling quick breakdown and setup of the loudspeakers. “It only takes a half-hour to get the loudspeakers down,” Johnson noted. “I haven’t seen another arena with this kind of feature.”

Adding to the efficiency of the design is the easy mounting and light weight of the JBL PD5000 Series. “The PD5000 loudspeakers have easy to configure rigging points and incredible low frequency pattern control for their weight, so it was easy to design a cluster that could be taken down quickly,” Johnson said. “Having low and mid-frequency drivers in one box is a huge advantage, and the sound remains crystal clear even at high volumes.”

Rugby - Stade De La Beaujoire, France

Although a few games will be played in Wales and Scotland, the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup (RWC) is a French affair, taking place in stadium venues across the country and culminating in Paris after six weeks, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final being played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

For many of the host towns, this is the first time they have staged a major sporting event since the soccer World Cup in 1998. Extensive preparation has included bringing the stadia up to specification in terms of PA and VA system performance. The Stade de France, as the country’s national stadium, already has a high-spec Nexo Alpha system within the ground and GEO S8 Series installation on its concourse.

However, three new contracts were completed which included Nexo loudspeakers in extensive EtherSound-networked systems – in the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, the Félix Bollaert Stadium in Lens, and La Mosson Stadium in Montpellier. All three installations have deployed Nexo’s latest GEO Series loudspeaker design, the S1230 two-way enclosures.
GEO S1230 and GEO S1210 are new additions to Nexo’s internationally successful GEO S Series. Paired with NEXO’s proprietary GEOSoft2 design software, the new building blocks in the scalable GEO S Series offer absolute predictability. The GEO S1230 has been used as the central building block of the three installations, integrated into EtherSound-controlled networks using Nexo’s NX242 TDControllers, Auvitran links and software, Yamaha matrix and mixing consoles, and powered by CAMCO amplifiers.

The first and largest of the three projects to be completed is the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, which has been handled by rental and fixed installation company Melpomen, which is headquartered in Nantes. Nearly 100 S1230 arrayable two-way enclosures have been used in this 38,000-seater ground, home of Nantes F.C. and the most modern of the French stadia to be used for the 2007 RWC.

Stade de la Beaujoire was required to upgrade its sound systems, both PA and VA, to comply with European regulations. Contract tender documents, drawn up by the City of Nantes and technical design consultants Labeyrie, asked for a single system which could handle all security announcements as well as act as the main PA. Melpomen worked with a team of three manufacturers – Nexo, Yamaha and Auvitran – to win the contract.

‘Our solution was to use the EtherSound protocol with impedance loudspeakers,” explains Thierry Tranchant of Melpomen. “This is the first venue in the world to choose the S1230 loudspeaker, but we offered them a very convincing package of high SPL in a low-weight cluster, a maximum of 200kg each, which was important in a this venue, where it is difficult to fly heavy speakers from the roof.”

Melpomen submitted the only quotation to meet all the criteria. The system uses 96 Nexo GEO S1230 loudspeakers in clusters of four or five, in 22 positions about 20m apart. The installation uses specially-made 16 mm2 speaker cable to reduce signal loss. Each S1230 is a two-way enclosure, capable of exceptional MF-LF output (103dB SPL nominal sensitivity-1W@1m) from the single 12” loudspeaker, which is coupled to a proprietary Directivity Phase Device (DPD). Vertical MF/HF pattern control, in the coupled plane, is array-dependent. Horizontal MF/HF coverage is is fixed, via Nexo’s patented Configurable Directivity Device (CDD) flanges, at 80° or 120°.

Four amplifier racks are located around the stadium, linked to each other and to the control room by two fire-resistant fibre optic links. Each contains up to six Camco Vortex 6 power amplifiers, plus a back-up in each group, delivering total network redundancy. In the event of total power failure in the stadium, the system will continue to function for 30 minutes.

Melpomen and Auvitran have also co-developed bespoke (custom) software which allows the master control room operator to check all loudspeaker clusters and amplifiers in the four rack rooms. These amplifier ‘monitors’ keep a real-time eye on amplifier temperature, current and voltage at each speaker cluster. This additional level of security is necessary by regulation because the system is performing combined PA/VA tasks.