Several athletic facilities at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, including the softball field, indoor track, swimming facility, and indoor and outdoor tennis facilities, have recently undergone audio system upgrades that all utilize loudspeakers from Danley Sound Labs driven by amplifiers and processors from Ashly Audio.
The projects come on the heels of a successful system project at LSU’s 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium completed two years ago, which is headed by Danley’s large-format, high-output Jericho Horns.
“I want every facility at LSU to be a miniature version of Tiger Stadium,” says Terrance Bold, LSU assistant director of facilities and grounds. “Everyone is in love with that system. It’s got plenty of SPL. Other loudspeakers at that volume would be irritating, but Danley’s sound is so smooth and undistorted it remains completely enjoyable. Our fans leave the stadium feeling great – assuming the Tigers won.”
Bold’s background is in audio engineering and live mixing, and he’s the person behind the console for all LSU home football and basketball games. Richard Hale, president of local A/V integration firm Sound Advice, and various members of the Danley team have assisted Bold in his quest to re-do other LSU facilties in the sonic image of Tiger Stadium.
“It used to be – and to a certain extent still is – a hodge-podge of systems and manufacturers across our facilities,” Bold says. “In my experience with Danley, I’ve come to learn that all Danley loudspeakers, big and small, have a characteristic sound. It’s a relaxing sound that doesn’t blow your ears out, and every kind of music comes out sounding great. I’m amazed that whether I’m close to a Danley loudspeaker or far from it, the SPL stays relatively constant and it’s possible to have a conversation no matter how loud the system is.
“Danley also excels at making spoken word intelligible, and that’s obviously important at a sporting event. Given all of those huge advantages, it makes sense for us to raise up our other venues with that same great Danley sound.”
Although some budget constraints necessitated the re-use of existing amplifiers and processors, Bold is also taking every possible opportunity to put Ashly KLR-Series amplifiers and ne24.24M modular-output processors behind the new Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers. “Years ago, we put an Ashly system into our basketball arena,” he notes. “It’s the most workhorse system I have, with gymnastics meets, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and anything the university throws at us. We beat those Ashly amps and that Ashly processor on a near-daily basis, and I haven’t had a single ounce of service or failure on them.”
LSU’s new tennis facility includes six indoor and 12 outdoor court, with seating for 550 fans. The indoor portion receives coverage from three clusters, each composed of a Danley OS-115 subwoofer above two Danley OS-90 loudspeakers, equally spaced along the east wall. Outdoors, eight OS-115s and eight OS-90s are attached to light poles on the center aisle between two rows of tennis courts.
Underperforming systems in other existing venues have been upgraded. The softball facility replaced 32 loudspeakers in favor of two Danley OS-90s, which deliver greater total output with added clarity. The indoor track uses a center cluster of four Danley OS-80s along with existing subwoofers and new Ashly amplifiers. The indoor swimming complex now uses six Danley OS-90s, new Ashly amplifiers, and, given the room’s significant low-end reverberation, no subwoofers.
And in the near future, the school will replace the sound system in the gymnastics facility with four Danley SBH-20LF full-range loudspeakers and two TH-118 subwoofers, driven by new Ashly KLR-Series amplifiers.