In such a wide open, cavernous venue, pristine sound is vital, as much for commentary at athletics meets as general messages and voice evacuation. However, the previous sound system was lacking, as Centre manager Mick Bond explained. “It piggy backed onto the fire alarm system so it was not really fit for general purpose. It was a constant source of frustration and produced feedback whenever turned up.
Their project manager Neil Kavanagh knew that LVRPA wanted to main continuity with the proven CDD formula and his solution was to specify largely CDD12, enabling the CSX 118 sub to take care of the lower frequencies.
This he knew would not only provide the level of speech intelligibility required for commentary and handle background music during daytime training, but also have sufficient muscularity to handle small concerts.
Kavanagh’s first conundrum was how to tackle the acoustics of an inherently ‘live’ cantilevered venue, while at the same time integrating the pre-existing sound system. He specified 10 CDD12, two CDD 10 and four CSX 118, ensuring that the subs fired down at the rubber floor, which would provide absorption, while the full range boxes were arrayed and directed at the 500 raked seat stand on one side of the oval (avoiding the facing wall entirely).
The internally wired truss itself is suspended from four points, with two tonne weight-loading and safety bonds at each end. The speakers themselves are fixed using half couplers and are safety bonded.
“We assembled everything 1.5m off the ground and hoisted it into positions on four chain hoists and tethered it at the four hanging positions,” said Kavanagh. The installation required 200m of single 19-core cable running back to the power room and 400m of additional speaker cable on the truss.
The result is a potent solution devoid of any reflections, which comes as no surprise to Neil Kavanagh. “What I really like about the CDD series is the accuracy of dispersion. It has been designed to offer a lot of sound within the budget. Not only that, but the inherent coaxial speaker technology offers power coupled with a sonic performance that is unrivalled for the price.”
Control and amplification also followed the model set in the two other Lee Valley venues. As for integrating the pre-existing horn system this is now detailed to handle voice announcements only. “We have put a ducker into the main system so that it cuts for messages,” Neil Kavanagh explained.