For fans of Texas Christian University’s (TCU) Horned Frogs football team, this school year’s Big 12 conference football season was bigger and bolder than ever thanks to the kickoff of a $118M expansion of the Fort Worth campus’ Amon G. Carter Stadium. [related]
Among its many improvements, the first phase of this multi-year initiative involved an upgrade of the nearly 50,000-capacity stadium’s video and audio facilities, including a new L-Acoustics K1/Kara loudspeaker system designed and installed by local integrator Electro Acoustics.
The project marked the second L-Acoustics system to be installed on TCU’s campus, said Electro Acoustics account manager Ryan Walker.
In 2015, the company installed a Kara loudspeaker system paired with SB18i subs at the school’s Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, home to the popular Lady Frogs women’s soccer team.
“After discussions with Ryan and [EA president] Chris [Jordan], as well as our own experience with L-Acoustics at our soccer venue, we knew it would be the right choice for our football stadium,” says TCU senior associate athletic director T. Ross Bailey.
When TCU officials announced they would be installing a 5,500-square-foot video display at the top of the north end-zone seating section at “The Carter,” the Electro Acoustics team reached out to L-Acoustics sports facilities application manager Gino Pellicano for product guidance and Soundvision design assistance.
“Working to maximum height requirements, the new video board—a massive 100+ feet wide and nearly 50 feet tall—took most of the space, leaving less than 12 vertical feet to hang our loudspeaker arrays in the area above the display,” said Walker.
“With such tight space constraints, we needed a fairly compact loudspeaker system that could still throw 500 feet and push 95 to 98dB at that distance when needed,” he said.
Inside the TCU Installation
EA systems designer Steve Burge worked with Pellicano on the design of the football stadium’s new system, which features three centrally positioned K1 arrays each comprised of six enclosures firing down the field to cover the far southern half of the bowl.
To address the fans on the closer northern half, 16 smaller Kara enclosures were also flown directly above the video board. These were divided into arrays of seven, five, and four enclosures, tailored to the heights of the nearby seating stands.
Dual hangs of five SB28 subs are flown behind the center K1 array for LF impact, and all of the arrays are concealed behind a scrim emblazoned with the Horned Frogs moniker.
Six short-throw X12 enclosures provide downfill coverage to the areas in the shadow of the video board and 12 LA12X and seven LA4X amplified controllers power the loudspeaker complement, which is also networked via a Milan-compliant P1 AVB processor.
With the new sound system commissioned and ready for the Horned Frogs’ season opener in late August 2019, Walker notes that the sonic improvement was immediately apparent, even to untrained ears.
“Everyone notices the clarity of the L-Acoustics system,” he said. “The funny thing is that everyone thinks that this system is louder than the old one. It’s certainly capable of being much louder, but they’re now averaging between 88 and 90dB for games, which is actually quieter than they ran their old rig.
“Plus, the comment that I’ve heard over and over is, ‘I can finally understand what the announcers and refs are saying,’” said Walker.
Bailey echoes Walker’s sentiments.
“I would say that the sound is clearer without having to be louder, and that’s a big improvement for our fan base,” he said.
“I was very surprised and impressed with how even and consistent the sound is throughout the entire stadium,” said Walker. “The transition between the Kara and K1 coverage areas is so smooth that it’s almost imperceptible, even when you’re listening for the changeover.”
