|
New Gillette Stadium
A system photo odyssey
 By
Keith Clark
Editorial Director
ProSoundWeb
|
To celebrate the kickoff of the 2002 pro football season, PSW Editorial
Director Keith Clark presents this photo
profile of Gillette Stadium in
Foxboro, MA, the new home of the
current Super Bowl champion New England
Patriots. Keith took
these images prior to a recent pre-season game at the
new venue.
WJHW of Dallas
provided the system design, with installation and custom engineering
by SPL of Columbia, Maryland. Pat McConnell of SPL, who has managed
the project on-site for more than a year, conducted the tour.
The system is
completely distributed, with more than 250 loudspeakers
individually
and in groupings supplying all coverage to each seating deck.
Loudspeakers in the seating bowl are predominantly EAW.
Two equipment racks
- one on each long side of the bowl - house the QSC
amplifiers and BSS
Soundweb distributed digital signal processing set driving
the loudspeakers.
From the glassed-in system control position at suite level, system
operators
utilize a Soundcraft
console in addition to having access to processing and
amplifier
parameters via networks. Signal and data are transported via fiber
optics. (For more on the latest in stadium sound, read our primer
article,
recently
written for Stadia magazine.)
Enjoy the tour!
(Click
on each image below to view it much larger.)
|
Welcome to new Gillette Stadium
in Foxboro, MA!
|
|
Pat McConnell of SPL (left) and
Jack McCallum of WJHW at the Soundcraft console.
|
|
A perspective of the
65,000-plus-capacity stadium. Lots of space to cover!
|
|
All levels and suites are
covered by distributed loudspeakers, mounted wherever optimal, or in some
cases, feasible.
|
|
Upper deck seating on both
sides is covered by lines of loudspeaker groups mounted to the lighting
support truss.
|
|
A closer look at one of the
upper deck loudspeaker groupings.
|
|
QSC amps and Soundweb processing are
housed in two secure equipment rooms, one on each long side of the bowl.
|
|
A look under the hood, so to speak, at the
meticulous rack wiring done by SPL. These guys are good!
|
|
Soundweb and QSControl at the control
position, along with a host of effects devices, patch panels and more.
|
|
Working around all of the signage in one
end zone to place loudspeakers that deliver coverage.
|
|
A closer look at the loudspeakers
covering one end zone seating area.
|
|
|
