Los Angeles-based Pro Sound & Video recently upgraded the audio system at UCLA’s venerable Pauley Pavilion, part of a $125 million renovation to the arena.
Acoustic Dimensions served as acoustical consultant for the project, which includes Harman Professional’s JBL Professional Precision Directivity (PD) Series loudspeakers, BSS Audio Soundweb London signal processing and Crown Audio CTs Series amplifiers.
Pauley Pavilion, which opened in 1965, is the on-campus home court to the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball, gymnastics and volleyball programs, as well as a campus landmark which played host to the 1984 Olympics, a 1988 presidential debate and renowned entertainers including Frank Sinatra. There are 38 NCAA championship teams across the university’s various programs.
The design process was conducted over a 20-month period, while the renovation included the addition of modern amenities with a new center-hung video display and new speaker system for the arena seating, concourses and restrooms, with AV systems for the new team meeting room, player lounges and Stadium Club.
The total installation includes eight JBL PD5212/64 loudspeakers for main long throw, eight PD5212/64 loudspeakers for main short throw arrayed above the four corners of the scoreboard and 32 AM7212/95 main delay loudspeakers installed in a delay ring around the arena seating, underneath the upper seating level.
Additionally, two VP7212MDP floor monitor loudspeakers were provided for courtside use, 29 Control 26CT ceiling loudspeakers installed in the arena’s premier seating Pavilion Club, and 30 Control 24CT MicroPlus compact in-ceiling loudspeakers installed in the writing and press area of the arena.
“We’ve used the JBL PD5000 series boxes on previous projects and like the way it sounds,” notes Brian Elwell, senior consultant and VP of Acoustic Dimensions. “With its tonal quality and high output capability we determined it was a good design choice. Add to that fact that JBL’s headquarters are right down the street from the university, we knew that it was the right speaker for the arena.”
Three Crown CTs600 amplifiers power the system’s 70-volt loudspeakers, with an array of BSS BLU-800, BLU-160, BLU-16 and BLU-32 being used for digital signal processing as well as a BLU-10 controller for level control and mutes of the various speaker systems.
“This was a fairly simple system to install, except for one main challenge,” explains Joe Byrne, operations manager of Pro Sound & Video. “With trapezoid cabinets such as the PD loudspeakers, it made it difficult to hang the boxes from the stadium roof. There is no easy way to have the speakers seismically arrested and would have required a huge amount of wired rope installed between the speakers and the ceiling. It looked chaotic on paper.”
“We needed a ridged frame system to cut back on the wire strung in the rafters so we developed a square structural steel frame in which the loudspeakers could hang inside and be seismically arrested to the frame itself,” he adds. “With a ring of delay speakers underneath the upper seating level, the coverage is great.”.
“We’ve never had any issues with the audio system when we know we have Harman products deployed,” he concludes. “With years of experience, we know that the system will be reliable and help reinforce the UCLA tradition within the arena.”
Pro Sound & Video
Acoustic Dimensions
Harman Professional
BSS Audio
JBL Professional
Crown Audio