A new sound reinforcement system at Olympisch Stadion in Antwerp, a venue built to host numerous competitions for the 1920 Olympic Games and now the home base for football team K.Beerschot VA, incorporates Powersoft amplifiers to drive numerous distributed loudspeakers in a project developed and managed by Belgium-based PFL and FACE PROJECTS.
“PFL – one of our preferred dealers – came to us for advice on their design and budget in reference to renewing the stadium’s existing sound system, which was about 25 years old at the time,” explains Steven Kemland, manager at FACE PROJECTS. “Beerschot wanted to have an installation to improve quality of speech and to be able to play a good ambient sound; the latter of which was not really possible with the old system. From the first design we were able to answer all their questions within the budget they had in mind, so we were not forced to make any backup plans.”
The system, required to serve both spoken-word and full-range music applications in the 12,500-capacity venue, utilizes three Powersoft Quattrocanali 8804 DSP + Dante power amplifiers to drive the 25 Martin Audio CDD15-WR loudspeakers as well as 17 CDD10-WR loudspeakers that serve delay applications. Control is provided by a Dynacord MXE5 mix engine and a pair of TPC-1 touch panel controllers.
“We love Powersoft and the people involved,” Kemland says. “We know that this great range of products can serve all projects with in a very professional way. Between the Quattrocanali, Ottocanali, Mezzo, and T Series, we have solutions for everything, from very simple projects to more complex installs. With the Quattrocanali 8804, you have a lot of power, on-board DSP, and Dante, all in compact format; not only regarding size of the unit, but the necessary current and cooling too. To have all of this – for a price you can defend to a client – is invaluable to a company like ours.”
The system also suppliessecurity support in crowd control and public address applications due to its zoning capabilities via the pre-programmed TPC-1 touchscreens that communicate with the MXE5 processor.
The team also employed Powersoft’s proprietary ArmoníaPlus software to tune the system. “In ArmoníaPlus, you have all the parameters you need to adjust and secure the system as much as is necessary,” Kemland notes. In this project it was strange to be able to replace a complete 42-unit rack filled with 20-year-old amplifiers with just three units and still have the 12 zones in the stadium with a total (audio) power of 20,000 watts.”
In addition, to serve special events, an external connection port with a Radial Engineering interface was installed near the field to be able to plug analog signals into the Dante network and use the main system. Although technical design was done by FACE PROJECTS on behalf of PFL, both teams worked together on installing the new setup, and support and maintenance will be followed up by PFL.
“The stadium won’t be at full capacity until September, but everyone at the smaller (100-capacity) games so far has been really happy with the new system,” concludes Kemland. “Overall, this has been a great project, and Powersoft can rest assured that they have a proud dealer and another happy customer.”
