Home to the NBA’s Miami Heat basketball team, the AmericanAirlines Arena has updated a sound reinforcement system that had been in service since 2002, equipping its main Arena in-bowl area is with DAS Audio Aero Series 2 and UX Series loudspeakers.

Located in Downtown Miami, Florida along Biscayne Bay, the arena offers 2,105 club seats, 80 luxury suites and 76 private boxes, providing a total seating capacity in excess of 21,000.

Jorge Arronte, Manager of Sound and Matrix, and David Vickery, the Director of Broadcast Services, are the two key on-site personnel responsible for many of the arena’s key facility decisions. Their latest upgrade includes 128 DAS Audio Aero 40A enclosures, 16 Aero 20A cabinets, along with 8 UX-218RA sub bass enclosures – all controlled by Lake/Dante loudspeaker management and distribution system. Arronte and Vickery discussed the project and their reasons for deploying the DAS Audio equipment.

‘We started the upgrade in September,’ Vickery reports. ‘The various cluster arrays were cabled, lifted, and tested throughout the month and the new sound system came online for the Miami Heat’s first pre-season game. As the main arena in-bowl PA sound system, it is used for all forms of audio presentation, including voice, musical instruments, Power Point presentations, video playback, special effect sound, and the like. Applications include the presentation of NBA basketball games, corporate events, concerts and shows, as well as arena facility training.’

The new line array system improves frequency response and coverage throughout the seating areas. According to Arronte, ‘This line array is very steerable and is one of the key reasons it was selected for the seated audience. Based upon the sound modeling of the arena seats, eight cluster locations were designed by DAS engineers in Spain for maximum coverage with minimal power requirements.’

‘After the sound demonstration of the Aero 40 loudspeaker cabinets, it was obvious we could achieve the necessary SPL using a relatively compact enclosure,’ Arronte says. ‘We could reach our audience with both speech and music clearly – without the high power typically required in large venues. This was one of the most important features we were looking for – presence without excessive power.’

With the new system operational, both Vickery and Arronte are pleased: ‘It has a huge impact on the enjoyment of the audience and where admission is charged, it becomes even more important to deliver consistent high-quality sound throughout all seating areas,’ Arronte says. ‘Our goal this time was to bring sound as a presence to the seats instead of pushing sound across a large space with lots of power, which can result in a very loud and noisy experience. Sports fans attend athletic events with high expectations, and most of those expectations have very little to do with what’s happening on the basketball court. They want, among other comforts, excellent lighting, sharp video presentations, and high-tech sound. With the new loudspeaker cluster locations and configuration, we have reached our audience with presence and clarity without the need to push high power across the arena facility.’

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