Austin Peay State University, located in Clarksville, Tennessee, recently underwent a complete renovation of Governors Stadium, home to the university’s football team. As one of the fastest growing universities in the state, the school administration was interested in ensuring their fans had the best game-day experience possible.
The school called upon Union City-based Lowrance Sound Company to assist in the design and installation of a new system featuring One Systems loudspeakers.
“The job started out on a shoestring budget,” explains owner Mark Lowrance. “We worked hard with the organization to increase the budget but also make sure they were getting the best bang for their buck possible.”
With the goal of blanketing the home and visitor seating, Lowrance ultimately decided that an endzone cluster would provide the desired end result while keeping within the budget. A long-time supporter of One Systems products, he decided to look at their CFA-2 loudspeakers for the job.
“I had used One Systems products before and think they sound great and provide the all-weather features an outdoor system requires,” Lowrance adds. “After talking with engineer Mike O’Neill, Mike Torlone delivered some to our offices so we could test their throw – we needed to reach seats that were 550 feet away from the scoreboard.”
One Systems Cross Field Array-2 (CFA-2) is designed to provide high intelligibility and acoustic output where long throw requirements are specified, making it ideal for the football stadium. The loudspeaker is a nominal 55 x 30 array that features a fully rotatable high frequency horn/waveguide allowing vertical or horizontal placement while still providing the desired coverage patterns.
The high frequency configuration consists of two large format close-spaced compression drivers coupled to a 2″ (50.8mm) constant directivity horn. The low frequency configuration consists of 4 bandwidth optimized 10″ (254mm) diameter woofers in a 2 x 2 array.
After the demo it was clear that the CFA-2 loudspeakers were ideal for the job. Lowrance specified a scoreboard cluster made up of identical left and right arrays and center stacked subs. Each array consists of three CFA-2 loudspeakers. Four One Systems 118Sub-Ws subwoofers were stacked 2 x 2 in the center of the arrays to provide additional low end.
“Once the system was installed, the university was even more delighted with them,” says Lowrance. “They sounded really good everywhere – particularly at the far end of the stadium.”
Lowrance was also responsible for the concourse sound system at the stadium. The design originally specified ceiling speakers, but he encouraged the University to install One Systems 106IM loudspeakers instead.
“It is a much better sounding loudspeaker,” he explains. “We could use less of them and provide the same coverage with far better audio quality – it was a win for everyone. We mounted them along the side of the concourse where the concessions were located and they worked perfectly.”
The high-performance two-way loudspeaker consists of a 6-inch woofer and a One Systems ETS driver coupled to a fully rotatable, constant-directivity high-frequency horn.
Although equally well suited to indoor venues, both the CFA-2 and 106IM are designed for direct-weather outdoor applications. The CFA-2 features a three layer stainless steel grill assembly. The enclosure design is a laminated fiberglass construction with high safety factory structural rigging points molded in the enclosure shell. The 106IM’s enclosure is molded from a special thick-walled copolymer that is designed to handle high UV exposure and harsh weather conditions. All its external hardware and grille are made of stainless steel. The106IM’s grille is a 3-layer “rain shield” design that minimizes direct rain contact with the system’s transducers. Its unique vent design also allows for effective moisture drainage from the interior of the enclosure.
“Everyone is happy with the new audio system. Bass response is good and the coverage is excellent,” concludes Lowrance. “All-in-all there is a dramatic improvement over the previous audio system.”