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The new sound reinforcement system at
EverBank
Field in Jacksonville, Florida features eight JBL VLA line arrays, with another four planned for installation later this year. |
NORTHRIDGE, California – Since opening in 1995, EverBank Field has been the home of
the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars and host to NCAA Football’s
Gator Bowl. However, over the course of 17 years time took its toll on the
Jaguars’ den and recently the 84,000-seat stadium underwent significant
renovations, including an upgrade of the sound system with HARMAN’s JBL VLA
line arrays.
EverBank
Field’s management company Spectacor Management Group (SMG) hired Christopher
“Topper” Sowden, Principal Consultant of Sowden and Associates in Fort Worth,
Texas, to design and oversee the installation of the new audio system. The
system was installed by locally owned Florida Sound Engineering Company.
Faced
with the challenge of delivering high output and even coverage throughout the
stadium, Sowden and his team designed a distributed line array system where VLA
loudspeakers are mounted to lighting structures behind the stands. These line
arrays are aimed at low-grazing angles of incidence into the seating space from
behind the spectators.
“Considering
that EverBank Field is a large, open and relatively shallow oval, we agreed
that a distributed line array approach would provide a noticeable enhancement
to the fans’ audio experience in the bowl,” Sowden said.
“The
facility contains eight lighting structures placed around the stadium,” Sowden
added. “Working with Florida Sound Engineering and [JBL Professional Senior
Application Engineer] Brad Ricks, we decided the JBL VLA Series loudspeakers would
be the best choice for this installation for their frequency response and
ability to deliver high-impact sound over large throw distances.”
Eight
of the 12 originally designed arrays have been installed with the remaining
four scheduled for completion later in 2013. Each of the four speaker clusters
on the sides of the stadium includes three VLA Series VLA601-WRX loudspeakers
and one VLA901-WRX loudspeaker, along with two PD Series PD5212/64-WRX loudspeakers
and one PD5212/95-WRX loudspeaker. The four end zone clusters each feature
three VLA Series VLA601-WRX loudspeakers, one VLA901-WRX loudspeaker, with one PD5212/64-WRX
and one PD5212/95-WRX loudspeaker.
In
this configuration, the VLA provides high energy and increased low and high
frequency response, all the way to the front row of the stands, with even
coverage to all seating areas.
“The
arrays were developed using a road show rigging concept that allowed their
installation using either a 150-foot crane or two chain motors,” Sowden noted.
“Each cluster only took about an hour to mount!”
“Because
the lighting structures are forward from the upper deck rear seating rows, we covered
that area with 32 JBL AM7212/26-WRX high-power 2-way speakers on poles behind
the last row of seats, which we chose because of their extremely wide
horizontal angle of coverage,” Sowden pointed out. “We also installed 52 JBL
AW295 speakers below the edge of the upper deck to cover areas of the lower
deck that were shadowed from the main system.”
“The
combination of speakers and deployment gave us the ideal combination of sonic
attributes to achieve exactly the sound coverage and musical quality we
needed,” Sowden said. “The team is happy, the owner is happy, and the patrons
get their socks knocked off. It’s like sitting in your living room listening to
a high-quality audio system, except you’re there with 84,000 of your close
friends.”
For more information on Sowden and Associates, please visit www.sowdenassoc.com
For more information on Florida Sound Engineering Co.,
please visit www.floridasound.com
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