The Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide, South Australia, has upgraded its facility with indoor and outdoor audio systems following complaints from visitors and guests over the previous system.
The South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) had experienced particular coverage problems with the Main Grandstand and Mounting Yard, which led to the SAJC publishing an expression of interest to companies for the upgrade.
Horder Communication Solutions was contracted following a successful bid and performed EASE modeling of all areas at the venue. The audio issues were resolved by replacing the existing network of box and ceiling loudspeakers with a combination of Community loudspeakers.
In total, 338 Community D Series ceiling and pendant loudspeakers, 12 subwoofers, and 44 R Series loudspeakers were installed throughout indoor and outdoor areas at the multipurpose venue, which hosts 58 days of racing throughout the year.
Providing audio to multiple zones, the sources varied from ‘all venue’ Race Day caller and broadcasts from local and interstate meetings, to conference presentation and live sound reinforcement.
The systems needed to provide a diverse range of acoustic solutions in the different areas to be covered. These included: large open indoor areas, requiring high resolution reproduction in noisy environments from ceiling speakers; two large open conference and exhibition pavilions with high ceilings; multiple intimate conference and presentation areas; the Main Grandstand and Horse Mounting Area; Heritage Grandstands, requiring sensitive loudspeaker positioning; and Lawn Areas.
“The system proved itself on race day. With thousands of racegoers in attendance it was possible to walk from any location to another within the complex and be subjected to the same uniform, outstanding sound quality,” said Blake Kirby of Hills AV, which aided in the EASE modeling and validation process.
John Horder from HCS added, “I wanted to achieve ‘a warm bath of clear audio’. The combination of Community and Hills’s technical services was the perfect toolkit to achieve this and exceed the client’s expectations.”
July 11, 2018
