Having been appointed to install a new audio system at the Von Braun Center in Downtown Huntsville, Alabama, as part of an extensive renovation programme that has been underway for over past two years, Verta Technologies selected an EAW ADAPTive system.

The installation is in the 10,000-seat Propst Arena, home to the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Huntsville Havoc, and comes is in addition to EAW ADAPTive being deployed in the 1,300-capacity Mars Music Hall and the 2,000-seat Mark C Smith Concert Hall. While Propst Arena is primarily used for hockey, all three of the Von Braun Center’s venues can host touring productions of any scale.

‘It’s impressive to see ADAPTive present in both smaller music halls and large-scale arenas, demonstrating its versatility across various venues,’ says Christian Tuttle, Principal and CEO of Verta Technologies. ‘The Von Braun Center now boasts one of the largest permanent installations of EAW ADAPTive under one roof in the world, showcasing the versatility of the technology across different venues on the campus.’

With the hockey season looming and a tight project completion timeline, Verta Technologies was able to complete before the first hockey game. EAW’s ability to deliver products in a very timely fashion and also have a technical support member onsite to support the commissioning of the system was crucial to meet the pressing deadline.

After extensive research, the Von Braun Center chose the EAW ADAPTive system for the arena, with Anya chosen for the main loudspeakers to meet the venue’s specific asthetic, as well as electro-acoustic requirements. The space has a ‘hub-and-spoke’ ceiling structure, where the primary load bearing beams meet in the centre compared to the typical rectangular grid structure found in most arenas.

Considering this, the installation included a range of hangs, with the shortest being three boxes all the way up to seven boxes for a total of 12 clusters around the bowl. Each configuration leverages ADAPTive’s ability to easily expand horizontal coverage by adding another column to the array. Otto subs are centrally located in the hub providing horizontal coverage of the sub band, EAW QX 566 speakers for ice fill, and a QSC Q-Sys backbone for DSP and control completed the comprehensive audio solution.

The height of the space is a significant challenge for the majority of today’s line array technologies, as Tuttle explains: ‘From ice to steel is only 65ft, so it’s not a high arena structure which would create a considerable obstacle for many of today’s articulated arrays. EAW ADAPTive arrays meet these needs with flying colours by being able to cover an expansive vertical geometry with very short arrays.

‘Using EAW’s Resolution software, we were able to steer the audio precisely to the audience from the first row all the way to the back row, so that every seat sounds exactly the same, from a frequency standpoint,’ he adds. ‘We could also expand the horizontal coverage from a single rigging location. A lot of people don’t realise how difficult it is to get smooth SPL throughout a space, and this is a huge range of multi-tiered seats. The EAW ADAPTive system ensures everyone in the venue gets the same experience.’

The Mars Music Hall and Mark C Smith Concert Hall house both EAW Anna and Anya systems as well as Otto Subwoofers. The Concert Hall will soon feature its AC6 Column Loudspeakers.

‘It’s always satisfying when the naysayers leave with a smile on their face,’ says Doug Collingsworth, design engineer and production manager at the Von Braun Center, who was integral to the project. ‘The decision to go with EAW was an excellent one. The system sounds great.’