Advance Sound Company - [November 21, 2009 2:12 PM] A Tight Sound in Tight Spaces: Lindenhurst School's Athletic Complex Gets Audio Upgrade

November 21, 2009 2:12 PM

After listening to the new athletic complex sound system at Lindenhurst School District’s main field, one could say that Advance Sound Company had scored a touchdown and more when dealing with the unique requests of the school district.

Positioned between the Middle School and Elementary School, the athletic complex is host to districtwide events as well as the home for the varsity and junior varsity Bulldogs. Yet the location of the schools is not the problem - it's the proximity of the neighborhood. No more than fifty feet across the road behind the bleachers lies a beautiful row of houses.

As preliminary conversations began, John Drenkhahn, Director of Facilities for the District, made a few demands:

1. The speakers have to be installed on the home team side light poles, where cable and piping previously existed.

2. There can be no echo from slap-back off the elementary school.

3. It needs to be used for athletic events, as well as district events like graduation, where graduates and distinguished guests sit on the newly renovated field turf. There needs to be at least six wireless microphones to use during these events.

4. The sound must be intelligible, but tightly distributed to limit audio overflow into the surrounding neighborhood.

5. It has to fit into the current facilities budget.

Surveying the field, Advance Sound Company noticed the old horns and drivers facing directly at the elementary school, with power being driven by a 120 watt mixer amplifier - the solution soon became clear, an overhaul of the system was needed.

Designed by Thomas DePace, a Certified Technology Specialist, the system features some impressive technology that fit into the budget. “It features four [main] manufacturers for the five major areas of the system: speakers, mounting, amplification, control, and sources.”

The Community R Series speakers were immediately chosen for their intelligibility and durability. “This athletic stadium featured a few challenges with the speakers. There is no visitors side bleachers, and the ‘home side’ bleachers extend from end zone to end zone,” DePace said. To account for this unique design, Advance Sound Company chose to use a Community R.5-94TZ on each home side pole facing the field to cover the field without extending too far into the elementary school wall. Another Community R.5-94TZ to cover the main bleachers. Covering the last twenty yards of the bleachers was easy with the Community R.25-94TZ speakers.

With existing Mussco Lighting Poles, Advance Sound Company relied upon the rigging expertise of Adaptive Technologies Group, whose Pole Mount System fit the bill. This modular mounting system included a pole mount adapter, mounting bands, and support bars to accomplish the three speaker cluster design.

Amplification and control were handled by both Crown Audio and Shure. For ease of use, the Crown Audio 28M was used to control audio sources. From there, the sources were routed into a Shure DFR22 two by two Digital Signal Processor, where equalization curves were changed to account for the outdoor environment. Audio levels were then set and locked so that any user can not overdrive the system or raise the volume higher than district approved levels. To obtain a controlled amplification level, the system is powered by a Crown Audio CDI 4000 Power Amplifier, delivering 1000 Watts on a 70 Volt system.

Six Shure SLX24/SM58 wireless handheld microphone systems were chosen for their quality vocal reproduction and durability. The wireless microphones are attached to the Shure UA-844SWB Antenna and Power Distributors. With low counter space, no static audio sources were used, but Advance Sound Company created a custom input and output panel that included two speakon outputs, as well as RCA and 3.5mm inputs.

Quality installation by Advance Sound Company was undertaken by technicians, John Ruggiero, CTS and Anthony Watt. The two skillfully mounted and secured the three speaker arrays, while the district utilized their own electricians to rewire the speakers, saving the district both time and money.

“Adaptive’s products gave us the edge in our installation, it was easy to put together on site, and worked well with the existing lighting poles,” lead technician John Ruggiero said.

The school district was immediately impressed with the ease of use and quality of the system. Each microphone was clearly labeled to the corresponding input on the mixer. District custodians were trained on the proper use and set up of the system, and will be present at all district events to ensure quality performance.

“We’re immensely satisfied with the system,” Drenkhahn said, “The sound stays on the field - it will keep our neighbors happy, while promoting great community spirit.”

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