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Alvin ISD Freedom Field Outfitted With Electro-Voice

Southwest Building Systems selects weatherized XLD line arrays and EVF subwoofers to cover new 10,280-seat football stadium.

Serving several communities in suburban Houston, the Alvin Independent School District (ISD) recently completed a new football facility, Alvin ISD Freedom Field, to serve as home field for two of its high schools, Manvel and Shadow Creek. The district brought in Southwest Building Systems (Silsbee, TX) to design and install the new video scoreboard and sound system.

“This being Texas high school football, the stadium AV is very professional, starting with the big video scoreboard,” notes SBS president, Brent Thornhill. “Expectations were very high for the sound system, both in terms of output and fidelity. That’s why we went with a networked Electro-Voice system.”

The main PA system is fully weatherized with fiberglass cabinets, input panel covers, stainless steel grilles and hydrophobic cloth covers. Primary coverage is provided by twin eight-box line arrays of Electro-Voice XLD281 three-way loudspeakers, supported by five EVF-2151D subwoofers, a front-loaded, dual 15-inch design, covering all 10,280 seats.

Power is provided by a rack of nine Electro-Voice TG5 amplifiers located in the field house behind the scoreboard, and the entire system is Dante networked for central control from the audio-visual room up in the press box.

The loudspeakers–heard but not seen – are housed inside custom enclosures on either side of the 40-foot video scoreboard. Each flown line array fully covers one side of the stands, with the subwoofers located on the floor beneath. A specialized black mesh facing on the enclosures protects the loudspeakers from the elements while allowing the sound to project freely.

Networking is achieved via the Electro-Voice NetMax N8000 digital matrix controller installed in the Freedom Field press box AV room. By connecting the NetMax and a laptop computer running Electro-Voice IRIS-Net software to the system via a Cisco network switch, the entire sound system is centrally monitored and controlled – right down to the stadium announcer’s mic and referee’s wireless system. The network also integrates life safety by connecting to the stadium’s fire alarm control panel.

As a finishing touch, the press box has its own Electro-Voice sound system, consisting of four pairs of EVID C8.2 ceiling speakers powered by an Electro-Voice CPS8.5 amp with wall-mounted volume control. The stadium announcer uses an Electro-Voice PC Desktop 12-inch gooseneck microphone. The press box system is networked to the main PA system via an RCM-810 IRIS-Net control module on the amp.

Southwest Building Systems completed and commissioned the system in time for the 2018 season opener, ensuring a great experience for fans of both the Manvel Mavericks and Shadow Creek Sharks.

“This new EV system sounds phenomenal,” says Mark Kapner, Digital Media specialist for Alvin ISD. “It’s very even across the entire stadium, and sounds the same no matter where you sit. The referee and announcer mics are so clear, it’s like they are sitting right next to you, and the music sounds amazing, very high fidelity and high impact. It’s everything we hoped for and more.”

Equipment list:
— 16x XLD281-FGB compact line array element, weatherized fiberglass
— 5x EVF-2151D-FGB dual 15-inch subwoofer, weatherized fiberglass
— 1x NetMax N8000 digital matrix controller
— 9x TG5 power amplifier(2x 1900W each)
— 9x RCM-28 IRIS-Net OMNEO remote control module
— 8x EVID C8.2 coaxial ceiling loudspeaker
— 1x CPS8.5 eight-channel power amplifier
— 1x RCM-810 IRIS-Net remote control module
— 1x LBC1412/10 wall-mounted volume control
— 1x Polar Choice PC Desktop 12-inch gooseneck microphone

Electro-Voice

Southwest Building Systems

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Linea Research is a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance power amplifiers and DSP controllers for the entertainment, live sound, installed sound and commercial sound markets.