In September 2015, Colorado School of Mines celebrated the opening of its new, 5300-seat Marv Kay Stadium, which has meeting and event rooms, a large press box and VIP suites, and dedicated sports medicine and strength training spaces – as well as a new sound system featuring Community R Series loudspeakers.
Tom Falgien of consulting firm WJHW designed the stadium’s new sound system. Falgien says the planning and needs analysis began in August 2013 and involved the stadium’s architectural firm and the school’s athletic staff. The school wanted even coverage for the field and for both home and visitors seating with high voice intelligibility and plenty of level to overcome crowd noise. They also wanted a modern system with extended frequency range and high musical sound quality to enhance the fan experience.
To achieve these goals and meet the school’s budget, Falgien chose a point-source system design using three Community R6-51 loudspeakers located inside of the scoreboard at the end of the field.
“A scoreboard system offers both good value and performance for this type of project,” Falgien said. The three R6-51 loudspeakers provide good coverage of all areas along with plenty of level and extended low-frequency response for team music and half-time shows. Falgien said he appreciates the R6-51’s presence peak which enhances voice intelligibility.
Crown amplifiers power the system with a BSS London DSP, Allen & Heath Qu-16 digital mixer and Tascam CD player. The system includes a Shure announcer microphone and Lectrosonics wireless mics for the referees with a hand-held wireless mic for field use. Seventeen Community DP6 pendant loudspeakers serve the strength training room and 20 Community D6 ceiling loudspeakers are installed in the suites and press box.
Integrator AVI-SPL installed the stadium’s audio system, which was completed in time for the first game of the 2015 season. Project Engineer Michael Bobela noted that the design was very thorough and the system “fills the whole valley from three speakers”. Falgien says the school is thrilled with the new stadium and they expect it to enhance recruiting success and noted that “the football team loves the new sound system and would like to have it turned on at every practice and use it all the time.”
March 18, 2016
