Best known as home to the Miami University in Oxford’s RedHawks basketball and volleyball teams, the 9,200-capacity venue on the campus’ John D Millett Hall also hosts concerts and other events – counting guests as varied as Yo-Yo Ma, Beck, Bill Cosby, Jay Leno and the Dalai Lama.

With an aging distributed PA system struggling to even with simple voice announcements, the school called on L-Acoustics’ Certified Provider Loud & Clear to supply sound reinforcement for its concerts. More recently, Loud & Clear has provided the venue with an L-Acoustics’ Kara system as a a fixed installation.

Used for both music and sports events, the system comprises LR hangs of 12 Kara arrays, flown on the north end of the court. Ground-stacked beneath each array are four SB28 subs in a cardioid configuration. Six LA8 amplified controllers housed in custom racks power and process the entire system.

‘The Kara system is being used for everything from concerts to lectures and graduation ceremonies,’ says Loud & Clear Installation Manager, Eric Cimini. ‘One of the biggest things the client requested going into this project was that the coverage be extremely consistent throughout the entire venue. They wanted everyone to hear exactly the same thing – from the cheerleaders right below the PA to the athletes on the court to the final row of seats at the other end of the arena. Looking at these little 12-box arrays, one might not expect them to cover the space as well as they do, but Kara totally delivers.’

‘With our new system, we went from hearing multiple complaints about the sound at every event to hearing multiple compliments,’ says Millet Hall and Hall Auditorium Facility Director, Brad Clark. ‘Everyone has been absolutely thrilled with it; I’ve not heard a single complaint since it was installed.’

‘I’m really impressed with its coverage and range; the low end sounds so much better and really suits the University crowds,’ he adds. ‘Plus, the L-Acoustics’ name is one that appears on every touring rider. In the past, we would typically contract out 10-15 events a year, whereas we’ll be able to do all of those in-house now, which is great.’

Although the Kara will spend most of its life flown in Millett Hall, the system is designed to be portable in the event that the school wishes to use all or part of it at the Department of Music’s 735-seat Hall Auditorium or for an outdoor concert. Motorised hoists permit the arrays to easily be lowered and removed, while additional hardware allows the cabinets to be stacked or flown elsewhere on campus when needed for smaller events.