Venue-Sound Enhancement Extends to Minors, College Sports

A couple of recent sports-venue audio updates reflect the fact that minor-league venues and collegiate venues are pacing the majors when it comes to keeping stadium sound up-to-date.

Besides a park-like setting, MiLB’s Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, IN, got a new audio system.

The 5,000-seat Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, home of Minor League Baseball’s South Bend (IN) Silver Hawks, got its first audio revamp since the stadium opened in 1987. Systems integrator Communication Co. installed 16 JBL Control 29AV full-range indoor/outdoor loudspeakers to cover the main seating areas, complemented by 31 Control 24CT in-ceiling loudspeakers in the upper deck and 48 Control 25AV high-power compact loudspeakers in the walkways and on light poles. A series of luxury suites and an area for private parties and meetings were added to the stadium, all equipped with JBL Control 24CT loudspeakers and HD video displays.

One of the key components of the renovation was the creation of a park-like environment that surrounds the facility and allows patrons to walk a full circle around the stadium. The walkway is lined with video screens, loudspeakers, and lighting designed to bring the play-by-play action to the outside of the property, and 30 JBL Control 29AV loudspeakers are deployed throughout this area.

All the loudspeakers are powered by five Crown Audio CTs 2000 and four XTi 4000 amplifiers, which are connected to the facility’s system-control network by three Crown IQ3 PIP-USP3 network-interface modules.

Daktronics designed and installed a new A/V system at University of Illinois’s Memorial Stadium.

In Champaign, IL, the University of Illinois’s Memorial Stadium, home to the Fighting Illini football team, got both an audio and video makeover. Large-scale video-display manufacturer Daktronics, which has increased its activity as an AV-systems integrator, designed and installed the stadium’s new audio/video systems, implementing JBL VLA Series loudspeakers. The new system is integrated with existing BSS Audio and Crown back-of-house equipment. The new main-bowl audio system is integrated with the new scoreboard and comprises two line arrays, each equipped with six JBL VLA601H and two VLA901H loudspeakers. Two JBL PD5212 loudspeakers are used for downfill. Also, nine AC28s were installed to fill shadowed areas under the east upper deck. The system is powered by 12 Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD and five I-Tech 9000 HD amplifiers, which were installed in accordance with existing BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-80 system and Crown CTs amplifiers.

The stadium also has a new HD video display measuring 36 ft. tall x 96 ft. wide. Capable of showing one large image to highlight live video and instant replays, it can also be divided into separate windows to show a variety of vivid graphics, colorful animations, up-to-the-minute statistics, scoring information, and sponsor advertisements with outstanding brightness and wide-angle visibility.

Directly below the main video display, a new custom football scoreboard shows the score, time-outs left, down and distance, game time remaining, and quarter information. An identical scoreboard (without video display) was installed above the north-end-zone seats; a supplemental ribbon display was installed below the custom scoreboard, which measures more than 50 ft. wide, showcasing sponsors throughout events, showing up-to-the-minute statistics, and providing other game information.