Home to numerous Fortune 1000 companies, Charlotte is also home to the University of North Carolina Charlotte campus (UNC Charlotte). A public research university of 30,000 students, UNC Charlotte, whose FCS football team plays at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Having moved up to Division I FBS in 2015, the stadium was still using the sound system from when it was built, which was sorely in need of an audio upgrade. The athletic staff contacted Stephen Morris, President of CV Lloyde AudioVisual, to help revitalise the audio system to help energise the crowd.
‘The old sound system was designed for a small FCS-style stadium, and UNC Charlotte needed a system that reflected the current status of their program in FBS football,’ Morris says. ‘While top-notch sound quality was of critical importance to UNC Charlotte, they also wanted amplifiers that were reliable and easy to use, and LEA amplifiers fit the bill perfectly.’
Morris’s team installed multiple Connect Series 354D amplifiers to power the immersive audio experience in the stadium’s fieldhouse. With 96kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options, the IoT-enabled 354D provides 350W/channel, supports high-Z (70V or 100V) and low-Z selectable by channel, and features two Smart Power Bridge channels. With three ways to connect, the university can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the stadium’s Wi-Fi, or connect to the local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
The Connect Series delivers an industry-first professional amplifier family to feature cloud connectivity, a revolutionary advancement and a significant benefit for anyone maintaining the systems. With LEA Cloud, A/V teams can remotely control and monitor the amplifiers regardless of the location or time of day. Whether from within the sphere or a different continent, controlling the Connect Series amplifiers from afar helps teams work more efficiently, reducing travel and saving time and money.
‘The new sound system really gets our crowd going,’ reports Matt Messina, Associate Athletic Director for Broadcast, Video, and Technology at UNC Charlotte. ‘It’s great to see the excitement when we play that intro video, and the fact that the stadium sound system can now get those fans engaged and get them hyped for a game in the stadium is very gratifying to us.
