Swedish drag racing circuit equipped with Renkus-Heinz speakers

Several Renkus-Heinz PNX102/LA line array modules have been put in place at the Tierp race track in Sweden.

The speakers are being used for speech and commentary purposes throughout the venue, which primarily hosts drag racing events. As extreme levels of background noise are clearly an issue in this environment, the installers had to ensure that the audio system could deliver both high volume and clarity in abundance.

"The key to the audio for a drag racing audience is, of course, to make it loud," said Karl-Gustaf Kahlau of Renkus-Heinz’s Sweden distributor, Luthman SMTTS AB, "so the audience can hear what the commentator is saying above the noise of the cars. What they’ve done at Tierp Arena is to use line array modules that are powerful enough, but compact enough not to obscure sightlines.

"With our help, they decided on low profile PNX102/LA line array modules – 24 boxes in total, bolted in pairs to customised steel ground frames to make 12 independent freestanding clusters. The installer, Lennart Johansson, designed a semi-modular, semi-mobile transportation and multi-angle cabinet suspension system that was really well thought out and robust enough for our extreme weather conditions.

"The critical factor, though, is that the commentary can be heard over the massive ambient noise. These compact line array modules are matched to high efficiency Powersoft amplifiers via a weather-insulated network of pre-installed underground cables under the racetrack, and weatherproofed ground facility panels, all running back to the amp rack room in the main building.

"Also, as this system is both modular and totally mobile, it offers the owners complete flexibility and economy of scale, so they can deploy it in various configurations on other parts of the site for presentations, speeches and so on. It gives them the option to rig the modules in a standard long left-and-right line array configuration – the perfect system to set up in the space they have, which could easily host a concert for 10-20,000 people."

A PreSonus 16:0:2 console with live and recording capabilities is the system’s mix hub. The PN102/LAX system was simulated in EASE which, using just two dual line array clusters, demonstrated a delivery of 105 dB at the farthest positions.

Renkus-Heinz PNX and PN Series speakers are available in the UK through Polar Audio.

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