The STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA, is home to four professional sports franchises: the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers and the WNBA’s Los Angles Sparks.
As the arena gets ready to open the doors for its thirteenth season, fans will be treated upon entry to a brand new $3.4 million JBL Professional Vertec Audio System, a loudspeaker system that is in use worldwide to support numerous international tours and special events.
Following the recent installation of the new Panasonic LIVE 4HD video scoreboard system, the sound system upgrade was due in large part to address the arena’s need to provide the best audio system and technology available to its tenant teams and national touring productions and concerts, as well as for special events like professional boxing. The new system is designed to enhance the sound of touring production shows by allowing them to selectively use the installed system in a signal-delayed capacity.
STAPLES Center will provide touring sound crews with a Wi-Fi tablet for remotely adjusting delay times, EQ, and levels. By augmenting the incoming portable touring systems this available option will provide better coverage and sound quality throughout the arena.
“We are incredibly excited to unveil the brand new JBL system to kick off our thirteenth season,” said Lee Zeidman, senior vice president and general manager, STAPLES Center. “Technology has grown tremendously since we opened STAPLES Center in 1999 and as part of our overall annual upgrades we decided it was time for us to improve our audio system. It is important to us to keep providing a better fan experience for our guests and offer cutting edge audio technology to our tenants and the numerous tours and special events that we host each year.”
STAPLES Center’s new JBL Vertec System is designed to provide flexibility for handling the wide variety of events hosted by the arena. The control capabilities provided by HARMAN HiQnet System Architect Software allows rapid configurability of the system to meet different event programming requirements.
The new system includes the following elements:
* Main Clusters: Eight arrays of JBL’s VT4889DP-DA three-way powered line array modules are in use for the main system. Each cluster contains between 11 and 13 cabinets, with special attention having been paid to improving sound coverage and clarity in the upper bowl seating areas through precise array positioning and focusing technique.
* Fill Clusters: Two dedicated fill clusters are specially positioned to cover the end seating areas specifically during basketball games. Each array contains four VT4889DP-DA cabinets.
* Subwoofer Clusters: Four subwoofer arrays, each comprising six JBL VT4880A dual 18-inch subwoofer enclosures, produce extended low frequencies to create a full range musical system.
* Console and routing: A Soundcraft Vi1 in the control room is sending a digital audio signal to the BSS Soundweb system for signal distribution to the clusters.
