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| TS400 Vertical Array loudspeakers suspended from roof provides coverage to multi-function sports hall |
For over 120 years, the Agricultural University of Cracow has been training successive generations of Polish agrarian scientists. To cater also to the physical wellbeing of its students, the governing body of the university approved recently the construction of a brand new sports hall equipped with courts for a variety of ball games as well as a fitness area, changing rooms and utility rooms. What it unusual about this one is that it is the university’s first “green” building, an ingenious energy management concept having been put in place to ensure the 1,900-square-metre building consumes 90 per cent less energy than a conventional edifice the same size.
Energy conservation was one of the criteria informing the choice of a sound system for the new arena too, though intelligibility, maximum versatility and the ability to deliver powerful reproduction of recorded music were also key factors. The final decision – taken jointly by installation specialists SLX Sp. z o.o. and the university’s governing body – came down in favor of a DYNACORD sound reinforcement solution whereby, following extensive simulations using EASE software, the centre was divided into three zones, the sports hall and fitness centre accounting for one zone each and the passageways, changing rooms and ancillary rooms making up the third. Technical support here was provided by DYNACORD’s Polish partner Tommex Zebrowscy Sp. J.
The principal sound reinforcement zone comprises the multi-function sports hall with it 22.5 x 44 meter playing area and 150-seater grandstand. Coverage here is provided by TS400 Vertical Array loudspeakers suspended from the roof and angled in such a way as to serve both the playing and spectator areas. The audio signal fed to these tall and narrow loudspeakers can be drawn from any of three sources: the commentary box or either of two separate inputs in the hall. “The design of the TS400 is such as to ensure very tight dispersion control,” says Marcin Zimny, managing director of the Wroclaw branch of Tommex Zebrowscy Sp. J. “In fact the advertised 90° x 40° (horizontal x vertical) radiation pattern is very strictly adhered to and easily verified through measurements. That is a great advantage in the case of fixed installations – especially when dealing with rectilinear rooms exhibiting very lengthy reverberation times. With the TS400, we were able to keep the problematic acoustics of the sports hall firmly in check.”
The installation is driven by three DSA 8410 multi-channel power amplifiers and one PCL 1225T. The DSA amps are equipped with RCM-810 modules to allow for integration into an IRIS-Net audio network. Thanks to this network, the entire system can be controlled and supervised remotely via a P64 digital audio matrix manager from a PC screen in the commentary booth. The installation is rounded off by a CMS 1600-3 mixing console and two D 8A loudspeakers capable of serving either as monitors or as the transducers of a mobile sound system.
