Fan expectations of AV quality are high and venues have to enhance the in-stadium experience to entice punters away from their couch. The modern day stadiums are multifunctional spaces, used for sport, concerts and special events. Hospitality areas are an important source of revenue, even when there isn’t a game on.
Having a sound system to meet all these needs has become more important than ever, throw in emergency and general paging, you need an experienced robust sound system for the job! Our compact large-scale line arrays provide maximum clarity and definition and direct the sound to the audience to provide continuous, even coverage that reaches every last inch of the stadium. We look back at some of the stadiums we’ve had the pleasure of working on!
The Vodafone Arena, Turkey
The Challenge
The Vodafone Arena has a capacity of 43,000 spectators and boasts environmentally friendly features, such as the use of solar energy and rainwater storage for watering the pitch, which is made of hybrid grass – a first in Turkey. The stadium, home to Turkish Super League football team Beşiktaş JK Eagles, is also an entertainment and fashion centre that hosts concerts and live shows, an interactive museum and the biggest sportswear store in Turkey. They required the most technologically advanced sound system on the market.
The Solution
Sound designer Stage Craft and distributor, Lotus Technologies, teamed up to provide 30 Mugello-KH5 loudspeakers and 12 Mugello-KS5 subwoofers suspended from the sides of the scoreboard. Equipped with Slim Array Technology, the KH5 allows sound to exit instantaneously without resonance, generating a significant amount of sound pressure in the low and low-mid range resulting in a better impulse response and maximum clarity and definition. The Electronic Beam Steering directs the sound to the audience area and provides continuous, even coverage that reaches the back row of the bleachers on the opposite side.
The Happy Customer
“The reconstruction of a historic and monumental stadium such as this one was a challenge. We were obliged to impress the crowds with sound quality, technology and design all at the same time. But after a demo of the KH5 system, it was clear we had the resources to satisfy both our client's and our needs. Towering from two sides and distributing the sound from a single location to the entire stadium, the plan was a huge success! We are all very happy to have shared and accomplished this project with K-array.”
Dogu Civicik - Designer at Stage Craft
Lincoln Financial Field Stadium
The Challenge
NFL Philadelphia Eagles' stadium, the Lincoln Financial Field, underwent renovations to enhance the fan experience. Improved amenities included new premium seating on the edge of the football field which couldn't be covered by the existing distant PA and offered little space for speaker mounting.
The Solution
Installers Diversified designed a system using the Anakonda-KAN200+ flexible, two-metre speaker. 22 units were daisy chained and mounted along the curvature of the stadium seating and are powered by a QSC CXD amplifier which is connected to the larger DSP system at the venue.
The Happy Customer
“The Anakonda is very low profile, offers a built-in daisy chaining feature, and can survive outdoor installations. These qualities made it ideal for this sort of application. The clients are happy and we are sure our efforts will help fans to cheer on their team to a winning season.”
Jeff Dykhouse - Project Supervisor and Engineer
Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm Downhill Competition
The Challenge
For 75 years, the Hahnenkamm Downhill in the exclusive Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel has been the highlight of international alpine skiing as there is no faster race, none more spectacular, none more notoriously difficult. The organisers assembled a large production team for the event to tackle the sub zero temperatures, abundance of snow and difficult terrain for transportation and building, and who called upon Musik Lenz to provide the audio for this complicated, but extremely prestigious event.
The Solution
The sound was required to travel in the same direction following a single time-path so the bulk of the clusters were installed to masts on either side of the finish line, with a number of delay systems further up the track. The finish area directly in front of the main grandstand was reserved for the Austrian broadcaster ORF and its international counterparts, therefore the sound reinforcement needed to resolve how to provide powerful coverage to the spectators in the grandstands without disturbing the broadcast teams trying to interview the competitors nearby. Similarly, the organisers had stipulated that the coverage designed to serve the spectators trackside should on no account spill onto the pistes themselves.
The central masterpiece of the sound reinforcement was the Firenze-KH8 line array touring speaker and the powerful Firenze-KS8 subwoofer and the six-man sound team flew a line of 6 KH8 line arrays and 3 KS8 subs with 4 KH15 loudspeakers for side fill. One of the issues the team faced with the system was the extreme weather conditions. The Firenze series fought through 6 days of intense weather including high winds, big freezes and giant snow falls yet delivered clear, powerful sound over 200 m, throwing further SPL than the event has ever heard before.
The Happy Customer
“We were really satisfied with the system, everyone could clearly hear all the way up the mountain. The system was ultra-reliable even during the blizzards we encountered at the event. With the electronic steering of the KH8, we could keep the audio system out of sight making more room for the fans. We loved the KH15s used for side fill, it supported the Firenze system to give it more than we have ever heard before at this event.”
Spokesperson - Skiclub Kitzbühel
If you are planning your stadium’s sound system, contact us, we’d love to discuss how we can help. Click here to contact us