Now renamed the TD Place Stadium, Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park and its stadium is home to two new professional sports teams and is also ready to host major music concerts. Alongside the recent structural refurbishment that has made this possible is the installation of an EAW loudspeaker system.
Working to an audio specification from by BAI Consulting, EAW distributor SFM looked to full-range, two-way loudspeakers from EAW’s QX and MK lines, supported by SB Series subwoofers and UX8800 processors. All loudspeakers were ordered in their ‘WP’ configuration, which designates a weather-protected finish available in black, white and Pantone matched colours.
The overall design, which included detailed Ease models to show the system’s coverage, was approved by both BAI and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG). The A/V integration contract was awarded to Montreal-based Solotech’s Gatineau field office. EAW’s ASG team assisted in finalising details of the system.
‘This was a challenging installation for several reasons,’ says Solotech Project Manager, Greg Frechette. ‘Since it is an outdoor stadium with the south stands completely exposed to the elements, weather resistance was a major consideration. In addition, some speaker cabinets had to be custom-painted to match their surroundings. Then, the final challenge was the physical hanging of the speakers themselves.’
The lower level seats of the stadium’s north side stands required seven dual-speaker clusters of the QX366, while the upper deck is covered by 11 narrow-dispersion (60° x 45°) QX364 loudspeakers, evenly spaced and individually hung. The same individual mounting approach was used for the lower level south stands covered by 14 QX326 units, chosen for their wide 120° x 60° dispersion.
Having a rounded roof and being fully exposed to the elements, the south upper deck and end zone seats required a different audio treatment. The main seating area uses eight identical clusters of two MK2326i, one MK2394i and a single SB250zP dual 15-inch subwoofer. The end-zone seats are covered by four clusters made up of a single MK2394i, the wider dispersion MK8126i and a single 15-inch SB150zP sub.
The stadium loudspeakers were delivered in EAW’s weather-protected black or white finish, and in some cases a Pantone matched concrete grey to blend into their surroundings.
‘Everything is performing extremely well,’ Frechette reports. ‘The coverage is very even, which was the critical part of the design, and the sound quality is amazing. I’m impressed with the range and power of the EAW cabinets.’
One of the biggest challenges of the installation was the hanging of the clusters. To save the significant expense of bringing in a crane to lift speakers up to the grandstands, Solotech worked with the construction contractor to pre-install the speakers on the roof structure while on the ground before it was all flown into place.
‘Once the roof was in place, all we had to do was final wiring and alignment,’ Frechette explains. ‘It saved our client a lot of money, and really shows the benefit of all the trades working together from the ground up.
‘SFM came to Ottawa several times to help us out, whether it involved the custom cabinets or tweaking the system DSP,’ he adds. ‘On a big project, everyone needs to play their role, and that’s something that the people at SFM definitely understand.’
The new TD Place Stadium opened for the debut game of the CFL Ottawa Redblacks, with all 24,000 seats sold out.
More: www.solotech.com
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