Lambeau Field Upgrades Speaker System

Lambeau Field features weather-resistant speakers to transform the facility’s audio.>

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Too bad Super Bowl XLV is not being played at Lambeau Field. The historic stadium has quite the sound system.

Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, was the first stadium built for the exclusive use of an NFL team, and is the longest continuously occupied stadium in the league.

Recently, on the eve of the park’s 50th anniversary, a massive redevelopment plan was undertaken.

Transforming the venue from a stadium that fans would tolerate a few days per year in order to see their team, to a year-round tourist destination that has been recognized by Sports Illustrated as the No. 1 stadium experience in the NFL, and the eighth-best facility in the world to see a game.

While the stadium’s original classic seating bowl was preserved, the rest of the park’s infrastructure has been revamped, including an audio system upgrade that includes Community Professional Loudspeakers’ WET and R-Series weather-resistant loudspeakers.

According to Mark Plopper of Green Bay-based Made Ya Look Productions, the company behind the audio system design, the Community R-Series had been tested and proven.

“We had installed the R.5s in the team’s Ray Nitschke Field practice facility, and everyone was more than impressed with their performance,” he said. “They thoroughly surpassed our expectations.”

The stadium’s concourse is covered by more than 120 of Community’s R.25 two-way 8-inch weather resistant loudspeakers. As head tech Dan O’Brien explained, the Community loudspeakers solved a persistent challenge in the space. “There’s a tremendous amount of ambient noise along the concourse,” he said.

“It’s a very reverberant space, and you’ve got the sound from the field mixing with the sounds of the vendors, bathrooms and people milling around. The previous system was fine for background music, but important announcements couldn’t cut through the ambient noise.”

The system is configured as multiple 70 volt distributed zones, each covering a dedicated section of the multi-level concourse, with 12 to 14 loudspeakers per zone. QSC PL-Series amplifiers power the system. “The R.25s were so much more efficient that we didn’t have to upgrade the existing power amps,” said O’Brien.

Community’s WET Series W2-312 three-way boxes cover the stadium’s outdoor facade, as well as providing fill within the bowl. And WET Series loudspeakers and subwoofers are installed as part of the Tundra Tailgate Zone, a portable sports bar in the parking area that provides a season-long indoor tailgate party.

“We checked the R.5s we had installed at Nitschke Field after one of the most brutal winters on record, and they still looked and sounded great,” said Mark Plopper. “We knew then they were the right choice for Lambeau Field.”

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