The new Mingshan Stadium in the Ya’an City of Sichuan, China is one of the most significant construction projects to take place following the devastating Lushan earthquake of 2013.
The audio installation, incorporating Community Professional R SERIES loudspeakers, was led by locally-based integrator Chengdu Eagle Huang Technology, while EZPro Sound & Light Technology provided system design services and product supply.
Mingshan Stadium is a truly multi-purpose venue suitable for hosting sports, entertainment, conferences, exhibitions and other events. The stadium covers an area of 4,000 square meters and can accommodate 2,500 people. At its center is a basketball court with a flexible arrangement of fixed and movable seating stands.
Lian, technical manager of EZPro, explained the acoustics of the venue and the choice of the loudspeaker system: “It is a large stadium with a trapezoidal distributed audience area and long reverberation time. To reduce the detrimental effects of the room acoustics, the clients were advised to do some acoustic treatment during the construction stage. However, due to budget limitations they only managed to hang sound absorbers over part of the hall and provide a suspended ceiling over the seating area. The walls around the playing area were partially equipped with acoustic panel absorbers and reflections from the seating area are mainly absorbed by the audience.”
Lian continued, “The venue still has a relatively long reverberation time, which made it essential to choose loudspeakers with great sensitivity and directivity. Also, as the loudspeakers are installed on the ceiling truss, they needed to be lightweight to ensure the installation is safe and reliable. To meet these requirements we chose Community R SERIES loudspeakers as the most effective solution. R SERIES produce high-fidelity sound with excellent sensitivity and directivity. They work well in distributed systems, projecting full-range sound and providing even coverage of the seating areas, especially the mid and low frequencies which are the most important for tonal balance and the most difficult to control.”
The system employs twenty-six R.5 loudspeakers, configured in seven groups. They are distributed on the ceiling truss and project towards the court and surrounding spectator stands. According to the specific coverage pattern required for each PA zone, the groups consist of a combination of R.5-94 and R.5-66 loudspeakers.
With Audio-Technica mics, an Allen & Heath mixer and Symetrix Solus 8 DSP, the Community system provides excellent speech intelligibility and highly consistent sound levels for the new venue, enabling visitors to enjoy the many sports and events the stadium hosts.