Flyover Attractions, founded over a decade ago and known for transporting guests through immersive flying journeys, has opened new locations in Las Vegas and Chicago that are equipped with audio systems driven by Innosonix power amplifiers, and they’ve also been retrofitted into the system at the company’s original Vancouver location.
“The main thing we were looking for in amplification to power the in-seat component of our immersive sound system was a high-density, multi-channel, low power amplifier with Dante input,” says Eric Sambell, global director, construction and entertainment technology for Flyover Attractions. “There are plenty of sub 100-watt amplifiers out there, but very few with more than four or eight channels. For us it was as much about the simplicity of only needing one device for each ride vehicle, thereby avoiding additional signal and power distribution, and also being easily rack mountable, as it was about price.”
Flyover’s application is quite specific in that multiple amplifier channels are used to individually drive a large number of JBL Control 23 loudspeakers located behind the seats in each of the ride vehicles to provide a nearfield accompaniment to the big screen visuals. Each one of these vehicles has between five and 10 seats, with each receiving audio from a stereo pair of loudspeakers and with an amplifier channel dedicated to each speaker.
Given that these numbers stack up fairly quickly to complete the total specification, Sambell opted for the 24-channel MA24/LP² and 24-channel MA24/D² MAXX series models from Innosonix. The LP² 1U offering is stated as being capable of delivering 50 watts per channel at 4 ohms, while the D² 2U offers 280 watts per channel at 4 ohms. Both models have onboard DSP.
“In previous installations we used analog 12-channel amplifiers with unbalanced Dante interfaces as it was the only reasonably priced option to accomplish what we needed,” Sambell notes, “but because the ride vehicles have multiple VFDs we had considerable challenges with hum. Since the professional grade manufacturers at the time didn’t have the power density we needed, offering at most only 8 x 300 watts, we used a lower end commercial unit that had significant reliability issues.
“The irony is that with the old analog system we had to rely on the individual level controls, but since changing to the Innosonix amplifiers, they are so consistent we don’t need that adjustment anymore,” he concludes. “We’re very pleased with the company and the amplifiers. The product has been great and the service excellent. They really filled a gap and are a great complement to our main speaker system.”
