Located in the suburbs of Bangkok, the 4,000-seat Nonthaburi Gymnasium Stadium indoor arena hosts live concerts and a range of sporting events, as well as futsal, a football-based game played on a hard court.
In order to support its varied programme of activities, the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation required the best audiovisual and lighting systems possible with its available budget. As well as supporting the artistic, cultural and educational communities, the A/V systems would need to support futsal events up to the ASEAN league level. After receiving several design tender applications, the voting committee selected Fuzion Far East (FFE) to supply and install a solution A/V which included several LEA Connect Series amplifiers.
‘A well-designed sound system should ensure fans feel part of the action by delivering intelligible announcements and music to every seat,’ says FFE Project Manager, Sansak Seedokbuab. ‘By laying out approximately 3,000 seats onto the futsal playing area, the stadium can also promote multipurpose musical events from the stage.’
Following acoustic measurement analysis and software simulations, FFE specified LR arrays of Nexo Geo-M loudspeakers for the main PA, each with six M1210 12-inch elements offering 10° vertical dispersion, with two M1220 down fill providing wider coverage. The lower frequencies are supplemented by four MSub18 subwoofers per side, suspended as adjacent LR arrays.
During major futsal competitions, a preset focuses the main LR Geo-M12 arrays toward the audience, while for smaller events, a distributed network of Nexo ePS10 10-inch enclosures covers the main seated areas. All 20 of these cabinets are suspended from an overhead grid, and were primarily chosen for speech intelligibility and minimal reverberation.
FFE’s team decided to use LEA Connect Series 1504 amplifiers to power the main and distributed loudspeaker systems. Located in a rack installed on a catwalk between the main audience sections, the IoT-enabled 1504 provides 1.5kW/channel into four channels of 2Ω, 4Ω and 8Ω loads, and 70Vrms and 100Vrms. It also supports Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel and features LEA Smart Power Bridge technology.
In addition to enhancing the fan experience, ease of use and future-proofing were the underlying design parameters for Seedokbuab and his team ‘In offline mode, the technicians can manage and control all the audio and lighting parameters via LEA’s WebUI,’ he explains. ‘The LEA Professional amplifiers can also be managed and configured from a PC or a wireless touchscreen when connected over the amplifier’s Wi-Fi access point or the stadium’s existing Wi-Fi network. The amplifier parameters and status, including heat and inputs, can be checked, and the amplifiers can be turned on remotely over Wi-Fi when online or accessed through our network in offline mode.’
The stadium’s A/V systems integration contract includes regular maintenance and updates. Training conducted by FFE has enabled staff technicians to understand and use the A/V system independently. As venue personnel change, remote management via LEA Cloud and ease-of-use capabilities will ensure continuing smooth operation.
‘With LEA’s remote capabilities, managing multiple amplifiers is straightforward, making audio control efficient and stress-free,’ Seedokbuab says. ‘The installation went smoothly, and I’m excited to use LEA amplifiers in the future.’
