SOLUTIONS: STOCKHOLM STADION SWEDEN
A century of sound
The city’s most venerable sports ground is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with a complete new audio system, writes James Christopher
[INSTALLED]
AUDIO MediaMatrix NION processors Renkus-Heinz TRX151 loudspeakers Powersoft K series amplifiers
The new audio setup is designed to be used at sporting showcases as well as lighter music events
THE VERSATILE Stockholm Stadion was originally used as a venue for the 1912 Olympic Games. Complete with a running track and soccer field, it has hosted a range of major sporting events.
A tender for a new loudspeaker system for the stadium preceded a whirlwind installation, with just two and a half weeks to get a stadium-wide system in and a MediaMatrix system programmed to control it. The team chosen to handle the task comprised
consultant Dick Hasselblad of Teaterkonsult Hasselblad in Stockholm, acoustician Robert Nilsson, Magnus Krabbe, project manager for the installation, and Karl- Gustaf Kahlau, senior project manager at Luthman SMTTS AB – ProAudioGruppen. Patrik Eriksson was in charge of the MediaMatrix programming. Says Krabbe: “We had to
create a very quick solution. I spoke with Karl-Gustaf Kahlau at Luthman and asked him if we could do anything together on this project. He suggested we bring Robert Nilsson into the discussion – so that’s how it all began. At
44 August 2012
first we came up with a solution that was a bit cheaper than the final result, while the second solution that we came up with was the one that they bought – using Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers.” Kahlau expands: “I got a call
from the consultant about the first solution that we offered. He was seriously concerned about getting a higher standard than our first solution, so he wanted us to come up with another, even though the first design actually met the original tender specs. They also wanted it to handle lighter music events. “So we agreed to choose
the Renkus-Heinz TRX151, for the main loudspeakers; we also upgraded to Powersoft K series amplifiers. We
supported them with the AES signal standard between the MediaMatrix system and the amplifiers. Dick was comfortable with that solution – he felt that it reached the standard that they wanted.” Krabbe adds: “We’d been looking at this project for many, many years, as had Robert. He’s been working for
the stadium for 15 years so he knew the venue extremely well.”
SENSITIVE STRUCTURE One of the big challenges was actually mounting the loudspeakers, since the venue’s historical status meant the team was not permitted to drill any holes or screw into the wooden structure. Additionally, the stadium management wanted the loudspeakers to be as invisible as possible, all of which necessitated a lightweight, low-profile product capable of delivering the high SPLs required. Extensive simulation work
by Nilsson was also key to the project. He says: “I’ve spent a lot of time using EASE 4.3 to calculate and map the direct coverage to achieve an even coverage and high SPL within the seating area, since the consultant wanted to keep the sound within the stadium. “The weight of the loudspeakers themselves was also an issue, so it was a challenging job to find the right solution – and Renkus- Heinz TRX151/9W and TRX151/6W was the best
choice,” he says. “Clio 10 was used to measure the loudspeaker impedance during set-up and installation, and I spent a lot of time using the 1.1 Beta version of EASERA (by AFMG) to measure the acoustics and tune the system. We compared it with EASERA 1.1 and against SysTune with excellent results, but in the end we felt most comfortable using the new Beta version of EASERA for documentation and final tuning. “I then used SysTune for measuring and
documentation of the maximum program and peak SPL since it has a user- friendly interface and a good reporting function for this purpose.” Other features the team chose included the Powersoft amplifiers, of which Kahlau says: “Robert found out that they are so much more efficient so the city is actually saving around 25% of the power budget by using these. It’s an energy-saving installation as well, and in the end one that saved the customer a lot of money.” Other statistics include around 5,000m of fire-
Powersoft amps and NION processors drive the system
resistant, weatherproof speaker cable and fibre cable to connect all the racks with the MediaMatrix system using the CobraNet protocol, making it fully digital all the way to the amplifiers. Four NION units are sited at each amplifier rack location. Each NION also has two Cat5 extension units to connect to a CobraNet redundant fibre network, and monitor the amplifiers and loudspeakers via an alarm panel and wireless control panel. It also provides presets for different types of sports. He concludes: “Robert and I
were here for the first time the system was used and it was highly successful – the system played well and the football team commentator seemed happy with the sound. They played a lot of music during the game and a lot of commercials on the big screen accompanied by the loudspeaker system and they were very happy with the system.”
www.afmg.eu www.luthmann.se mm.peavey.com www.powersoft-audio.com www.renkus-heinz.com
www.installation-international.com
Pictures: Mike Lethby
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52