Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia in Athens, home of the Georgia Bulldogs football program that’s annually at the top of the rankings, can accommodate just shy of 93,000, making it the 10th largest stadium in the U.S.
In response to new rules allowing more recorded music to play during games, and to upgrade the overall sound reinforcement experience, the university commissioned an overhaul of the venue’s system, headed by Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers.
“There is increasing recognition that the stadium itself, including its sound and video systems, is a critical tool in keeping the momentum on the field going in the right direction,” states Pete Dugas, president and founder of TSAV, the Athens-based firm that installed the system.
TSAV looked at a range of design options, including distributed and end-fired systems. Converging on an end-fired approach, the company’s engineers collaborated on the design with Mike Hedden, Danley Sound Labs president. But in the spirit of due diligence, Dugas asked Hedden to come up with his own design separate of the one his team developed.
“The differences between Mike’s independent design and our own were small, indicating that our plans were sensible,” Dugas notes. “Not only would the new system meet the university’s performance goals, it would do it without straining their budget.”
Five Danley J3 Jericho Horns stationed in the scoreboard provide main coverage of the opposite end zone and both adjacent sides, while three Danley OS-80 loudspeakers provide down fill for the end zone seating immediately below the scoreboard. Both loudspeaker models incorporate proprietary Synergy Horn technology, which delivers full-range content from a single horn, boosting intelligibility, fidelity, and pattern control.
In fact, the pattern control keeps energy off the field so that the referees can speak without feedback, a situation that had caused considerable problems with the old system. Two of Danley’s new SBH-10 column loudspeakers provide additional side fill coverage below the scoreboard. Mounted horizontally, they deliver 10- by 100-degree dispersion from a single horn.
Four Danley BC-415 subwoofers (four 15-inch woofers into a single exit), configured in an end fire configuration, generate tremendous low end. All power amplification is supplied by Danley EDA 12000D amplifiers with built-in DSP and remote monitoring capability.
During commissioning, the new system was measured using a 2-channel FFT analyzer at several hundred locations, confirming a variance of better than +/–2 dB; in comparison, the old system had been measured with +/–10 dB swings, and further, it offered no content below 70 Hz.
“We’re happy with the results, and the performance is close to model projections,” Dugas says. “There were adjustments to make, of course. The new low end rattled the scoreboard, which we had to fix, along with too much low end by the university president’s suite. That was easy to adjust. It was nice to see how it all came together with everyone working so cooperatively. The SPL is now 26 dB greater than it was before, and the fact that everything is point source has improved fidelity tremendously. A Bulldogs fan myself, I’m looking forward to enjoying the system at every home game.”
