Daktronics-Sportsound And JBL Loudspeakers Provide A Bear Of An Audio System At Washington-Grizzly Stadium

Audio integration firm Daktronics-Sportsound recently upgraded the sound system at Washington-Grizzly Stadium at the University of Montana, home to the University’s Division 1 football team. The new system at the stadium features JBL VLA line arrays and PD Series loudspeakers.

Home to the Montana Grizzlies college football team of the Big Sky Conference, Washington-Grizzly Stadium opened in 1986 and has undergone several expansions since then. With the most recent upper deck expansion of 2,000 seats, the Stadium currently holds 25,203.

Daktronics-Sportsound installed 12 VLA601-WRC 3-way, full-range, weatherized line array loudspeakers, arranged in two columns of six each, mounted to the end zone scoreboard. The system also includes four PD764-WRC weatherized loudspeakers. A total of 30 Crown XTi amplifiers power the system.

“Because they’re specifically designed for permanent installation, the VLA line arrays have been an ideal loudspeaker choice for a number of our recent stadium projects,” said Doug Dodge of Daktronics-Sportsound. “They’re highly controllable while providing a ton of power, and they have performed exceptionally at the Washington-Grizzly Stadium.”

“The installation of the system went like clockwork and the incorporation of the speaker cabinets into our existing scoreboard structure worked very well from both a functional and aesthetic standpoint,” said Chuck Maes, Associate Athletic Director for the University of Montana.

Clair Brothers Systems Provides Fidelity and Power With JBL VLA Line Arrays At HSBC Arena

In another example of JBL’s VLA line array loudspeakers providing highly intelligible and powerful sound for sports venues, Clair Brothers Systems recently designed and installed a new audio reinforcement system for HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Arena features VLA line arrays arranged in a circular formation above the main scoreboard.

Located in downtown Buffalo, the HSBC Arena is home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League. The arena, which seats 18,690 people, is also used regularly for college basketball games, WWE events and concerts.

Drawing from positive experience with JBL in previous projects, Clair Brothers Systems saw VLA and Precision Directivity® (PD) series loudspeakers as ideal fits for the upgraded audio system at HSBC Arena. “We used VLA and PD loudspeakers in previous projects and were very pleased with their articulation and power handling, so we thought this project was a perfect venue to use them again,” said Jim Devenney, Senior Audio Designer, Clair Brothers Systems.

Clair Brothers installed six arrays, each containing 10 VLA901 loudspeakers, hung in a circular arrangement from the top center of the arena, above the main scoreboard. Additionally, Clair Brothers installed six PD5212 loudspeakers in the scoreboard for floor and ice fill.

Designed for permanent installations requiring high-impact sound reinforcement at throw distances beyond the reach of traditional loudspeaker designs, the VLA series is based on the same advanced engineering science used in the highly successful VERTEC® line array product family, but also combines many elements of the PD Series.

“The coverage of the arena with the six arrays is excellent and the transition from one array to the next is seamless,” Devenney added. “In addition to the articulation, the system is very musical and has lots of headroom. We were very pleased with the final result and, more importantly, so was the customer.”

For more information on Clair Brothers Systems, please visit www.clairsystems.com