The new Recreation & Wellness Center at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, features nearly 52,000-sq-ft of indoor space for year-round athletic, intramural, open recreation and fitness activities, with its indoor field house, Human Performance Laboratory, basketball courts, indoor track, racquetball courts, an expansive cardio room and three aerobics suites. The venue is equipped throughout with DAS Audio loudspeaker systems.

Design/build A/V integration specialist Grisé Audio Visual Center was contracted to design and install the centre’s sound system, with Sales & Production Manager, Greg Hardner responsible for the sound spec. This included 69 DAS Audio CL-6TB ceiling speakers, 22 Factor 8T loudspeakers, and ten Arco 4T loudspeakers.

‘The decision to install a sound system throughout the facility was approved with only six weeks of construction remaining before the grand opening/ribbon cutting deadline,’ he reports. ‘After winning the initial bid, there was a design revision that added weeks of delay.

‘The various DAS Audio loudspeakers were deployed in exercise areas such as the gymnasium, the weight rooms, the wrestling mat room, as well as the dance and movement spaces,’ he continues. ‘Our customer had developed a strong preference for certain brands and here we were, asking him to consider products he had never heard of. Ultimately, this led to a very pleasant surprise when he first auditioned the DAS equipment.

‘The Factor 8T speakers were particularly impressive once installed in the very difficult acoustical environment of the large gymnasium, where vocal clarity in the reverberant space could have posed challenges.’

In addition to the DAS Factor 8T, Hardner and his team placed 69 DAS Audio CL-6TB ceiling speakers in the lobby, dance areas, cardio workout area, the facility’s Fresh Café and some class and laboratory spaces. The CL-6TB is equipped with a multi-tap line transformer for 70V distributed systems. Similarly, the Arco 4T loudspeakers include a multi-tap line transformer, for use in locations where ceiling speakers were impractical.