Crypto.com Arena is home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, NHL’s LA Kings, and WNBA LA Sparks as well as an array of concerts and events from chart-topping stars. While sporting events are a constant—something that will get even more focus in 2028 when the arena hosts men’s and women’s gymnastics competition for the upcoming 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games—a complete upgrade to its JBL loudspeaker system now brings an enhanced experience for sports and music enthusiasts alike.
Opened in 1999 as STAPLES Center, the flagship venue of AEG is the anchor of the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment district in downtown Los Angeles residing adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Shortly after changing its name to Crypto.com Arena in late 2021, AEG embarked on a three-year major renovation to every public facing element of the venue.
JBL’s newest generation VTX A-Series loudspeakers replaced the JBL VerTec Series system installed more than a decade earlier. But the venue went considerably further in improving audience experience by adding upgraded and additional speakers to cover the top of the arena’s bowl.
The new system was the result of tight collaboration between HARMAN Professional and consulting firm Anthony James Partners (AJP) for its design, and HARMAN, AJP, and 3G Productions for its installation. “We did a very similar design to what was in the arena previously,” said Jack Covert, AJP’s VP of audio engineering. This allowed cost and structural work to be reduced by reusing rigging points and infrastructure originally installed for the VerTec system.”
The main system consists of 120 VTX A12 Dual 12-inch Line Array Loudspeakers, powered by Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD four-channel amplifiers. VLF content is supplied by 36 VTX B28 Arrayable Dual-18-inch Subwoofers driven by 18 Crown I-Tech 12000HD two-channel amplifiers. Speaker tuning and optimization are performed by DSP onboard the Crown amplifiers.
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“A big change was the upper balcony system that had not existed before,” Covert said. “I went to an NBA game prior to designing the system and the place was jumping, but I went on the upper bowl and it was quiet up there. We put in a nice delay ring using JBL Precision Directivity boxes and it really made a big difference. We made sure the folks sitting in that area were getting their money’s worth.” Covert’s design used 36 JBL PD6322/95-FRP Dual 12-inch 3-Way Horn-Loaded Speakers powered by more I-Tech 4x3500HD amps.
Despite the project being a multi-year renovation, the biggest obstacle facing the system install was the arena’s jam-packed schedule of events, since Crypto.com Arena hosts more than 200 events annually. “One of the most interesting and significant aspects of the job was its constraints,” said Jerrod Cring, director of systems integration at 3G. “There was no scenario in which the arena could shut down for a month or even a week to facilitate a full-scale integration of the new sound system.”
As the renovation got underway the audio industry was still in the throes of supply chain delays caused by COVID, but JBL was able to deliver. To thread this complicated needle, 3G drew on their production company roots and extensive experience working in the building on numerous concerts by touring music artists. Wiring harnesses and racks prepped at the company’s Las Vegas headquarters were transported to their LA office so they could be quickly loaded onto a truck, taken to the venue, and installed on short notice. “Going in and hanging a PA in the round in a couple of days, I mean, that's not an event for us, that's just your typical Wednesday,” Cring said laughing.
The ramifications of Crypto.com Arena’s packed schedule were further accommodated by one other difference between the VTX and VerTec systems. “From a maintenance perspective, if an amp went down in the old system, we had to lower the entire speaker cluster to access that one amp and fix it,” Dembekjian said. “But there are periods where we're going from event to event to event to event, and there's no time to bring that array down. We want to be 100% operational safe at all times, not 97 or 93 or 90%.”
The issue cropped up because the old system employed an onboard amplification option, but VTX speakers are purely externally powered. “If an amp goes out, we can just go and troubleshoot or replace it without needing to wait for a day when the arena is dark to lower the cluster.”
External powering also meant that, instead of running power and signal cables to the clusters, it was now necessary to run loudspeaker cables. Again, the earlier install was able to be repurposed. “The challenge there was how to change to that heavier loudspeaker cable; there's a lot more copper involved, compared to just the power for the amplifiers going up and down,” details Covert. “It turned out that the existing cable catch structure that the line arrays were suspended from was able to be reused. Not only did that work really well for the cable management, but it also brought some cost savings because it had been built right the first time.”
All hurdles overcome, the fully installed system successfully debuted at an NHL preseason game between the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. “As big and important a venue as Crypto.com is, it was daunting when the project first landed on my desk,” Covert admitted. “But all of the people involved pulled together as a good, solid team. Armen was on top of everything; he was one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people I’ve ever worked with in an arena like this, and the guys at 3G showed their stuff and did a good job on the integration side. Once we dug in and started working on it, it really, really came together and was a smooth process.”
