The Keilor East Leisure Center, a new multifaceted public facility located eight miles from downtown Melbourne, Australia that’s the region’s largest aquatic center, is equipped with a multi-zone sound reinforcement system driven by a set of Dante-ready Connect Series amplifiers from LEA Professional.
The facility includes multiple indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a fully-equipped gym, cycle studio, a spa, steam room and sauna, a childcare facility and water playground, a café and more, with the sound system designed to deliver background music and announcements throughout the center and to support staff AV presentations as required.
Philip Gan, account manager for local AV consultancy and installation company Programmed, who served as the point person for system project, explains, “This is an expansive facility and all the systems here are as network-based as possible, and that includes the AV system. We needed to design and install the sound system on a Dante audio network; LEA is known for its IoT technology and flexible connectivity, so the Dante Connect Series amps were perfect for this project.”
Connect Series two-, four-, and eight-channel amplifiers offer direct HiZ (70V or 100V) or LoZ selectable by channel. System designers can engage the the amps via a built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the venue’s Wi-Fi, or use the Ethernet to connect to any local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable. Also onboard are Dante inputs, analog inputs, and external I/O control for remote on/off and fault monitoring.
“LEA’s built-in Dante technology made for easy connections between all the components, the control system, and for distributing audio and data across the network and throughout the leisure center,” Gan says. “Many of the facility’s spaces are very large with high ceilings — as with the big, indoor swimming pool areas — and it was challenging enough to run a single network cable across these spaces; multiple pairs of analog cables would have been very difficult and expensive.”
Gan and the Programmed team installed a set of seven Connect Series 704D amplifiers to power loudspeaker zones throughout the entire facility, totaling 28 channels of audio. The team set up an intuitive set of audio zones for control to allow the staff to adjust volumes and content and make announcements as needed.
“I’m impressed with the LEA amplifiers; they are easy to work with, sound great with plenty of power, and the built-in Dante connectivity was a must-have feature in this situation,” Gan concludes. “We will definitely add LEA to our list of go-to manufacturers, and I can see Connect Series providing solid solutions for many projects.”
