Community speakers solve Yager stadium sound problem

The audio set-up at Yager Stadium – home of the Miami University RedHawks – has been boosted with the arrival of a Community R-Series system.

Due to the continued success of its football program, Miami University began a series of upgrades to the stadium 2003. The improvements to the 24,286-capacity venue included a new artificial turf playing surface, a broadcast-quality field lighting system and a large screen video scoreboard.

However, the existing stadium sound system was retained, forcing RedHawks fans to endure inconsistent coverage and poor audio quality. The university then supplemented the system with rental equipment from integrator Loud and Clear.

Earlier this year, Loud and Clear’s Eric Cimini was asked to provide a completely new installed system to eliminate the need for rental equipment, provide uniform coverage and enhance the fan experience with better-sounding music.

During system planning, the university considered a distributed system, but decided to stay with the current end-firing scoreboard design to utilise existing wiring and avoid the cost of stadium structural changes.

The new scoreboard system uses two Community R2-52 and ten R2-64MAX loudspeakers to cover the stands and field. Three R6-Basshorn woofers provide long-throw LF coverage and six VLF218 subwoofers, which are rolled out below the scoreboard during games, supplement the LF performance for music. Community R.5 and R.25 loudspeakers provide coverage beneath the stands, in restrooms and in the concessions area.

The system is powered by Crown iTech amplifiers and relies on Peavey MediaMatrix for mixing and primary DSP functions. Loud and Clear also added an Audio-Technica wireless lapel microphone for field use and a pair of Community dSPEC DSP processors for zoning and loudspeaker management. dSPEC zoning allows loudspeakers covering the field or the stands to be muted during practice as well.

The R-Series speakers now provide uniform coverage all the way from nearby stands to the far end zone seating.

“The volume from the Community R2-MAX loudspeakers is mind-boggling and the system has amazing clarity at these sound levels,” Cimini commented.

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