The Alamodome, San Antonio’s 65,000-seat multipurpose facility, has installed an L-Acoustics K2 PA system as part of a recent $60 million renovation project to modernise the venue.

The City of San Antonio called upon Dallas-based technology design firm Idibri to design the new sound system for the stadium, which is used to host football, basketball, soccer, hockey, baseball and other events.

Idibri’s primary objective was to deliver high impact, high SPL and enhanced intelligibility in time for the NCAA Final Four games, which will be played there in the spring of 2018 for the first time in 20 years. Installed by LD Systems’ integration division, the new system is composed of 76 K2 boxes and a dozen KS28 subwoofers powered by LA8 and LA12AX amplified controllers, with fill support from X8 coaxials on the club level.

“The Alamodome is a huge venue with some very real acoustical challenges, but you still want to give every seat the same great experience,” said Ray Givens, sales engineer and project manager for LD Systems. “The K2 lets us get excellent coverage and meet the SPL requirements of every game, including the Final Four—which will get really loud—without sacrificing speech intelligibility.”

Givens has seen L-Acoustics sound systems have been gaining traction in sports venues in recent years, with new systems recently installed by LD Systems in the AT&T Center and Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio and Toyota Center in Houston.

The Alamodome’s new sound system designs began with modelling in L-Acoustics’ Soundvision 3D sound design program. Beyond the main K2/KS28 arrays, the design was able to determine precise locations for the X12, X8 and 5XT speakers used to cover the under-balcony and suites areas, as well as hang points for any additional speakers needed for the Final Four and touring concert setups.

“The Final Four is unique in that it will bring in additional seating for the games,” said Ryan Knox, senior consultant at Idibri. “But the K2 will cover that with the exception of a few small gaps that will be easily addressed with a few additional speakers. The K2 covers everything else all the time, including even the suites areas, which had been an issue in the past. And we had excellent support from L-Acoustics’ team in terms of product delivery, design support and system commissioning. The K2 meets every expectation, and then some.”