BATON ROUGE, LA – Hurricane Gustav might not have flattened A.W. Mumford Stadium, the 29,500-seat sports venue for Southern University and A&M College, but it did knock out the sound system – and underscore the importance that an audio system can have to a college sports program.
"It seems like a pretty minor issue, but the truth is, losing the revenue generated by a home football game is significant," said Henry L. Thurman III, director of the physical plant for Southern. "We had lost the entire sound system from our scoreboard as a result of the storm, and had to get it replaced inside of two weeks' time."
To manage the problem, Thurman contacted Tim Landry Sound Construction of nearby Mandeville, LA. "Mumford Stadium is a classic horseshoe shape," said Tim Landry. "The scoreboard is at the open end and has to cover the entire stadium. That's a throw of over 400 feet to the far end. The first speakers I thought of were the Turbosound Aspect line."
The university wanted a system that was both intelligible and musical, as the school is famed for the halftime shows of its high-energy marching band, known as "The Human Jukebox." Working with the physical frame in which the old system was mounted, Landry designed a system consisting of 10 speakers, designed to cover the stadium in three zones.
For both mid and long throws, Landry specified the TA-880H, a 3-way mid/high, narrow-dispersion (25×15 degrees) Turbosound Aspect design capable of achieving 146 dB peak SPL from 95 to 20,000 Hz. "Two of the TA-880s cover the far field, aimed straight out at the opposite end zone and covering out to about the far 20-yard lines," Landry explains. "For the mid throw, which basically covers between the 20s, we have another TA-880 splayed out to either side."
For the "near" seats on either side close to the scoreboard, Landry selected the Aspect TA-500, a full-range design which features a wider 50 degree dispersion and produces 141 dB peak SPL. To cover the need for a big low end, four Turbosound TSW-218 subwoofers were mounted in the center of the array. "They like a lot of bass, and we gave it to them. Those twin 18-inchers pack a lot of punch and have great definition," said Landry.
The cluster is basically mounted in a large steel frame, with the subwoofers bolted together in the center, flanked by two TA-800H speakers on either side, splayed as needed. On the far outside edges of the cluster are TA-500s, aimed about 75 degrees off center to either side. "It's not a cluster in the traditional sense," Everything is bolted on frames and then bolted to the structure, which is actually bolted to the floor of the scoreboard. The whole thing is nearly 35 feet wide."
The system is powered by Crown amplifiers and controlled with an Ashly 24.24M processor. "To cover a 29,000-seat stadium from a single cluster, you've got to use DSP," notes Landry. "If you lose your DSP, you're out of business. That's why we install two of them, programmed identically."
Asked why he specified Turbosound Aspect (TA) line, Landry was succinct. "I bought it for the sound," he said. "The school wanted the sound system to match the emotion and feel of their marching band, which was actually quite a challenge. I've had experience with all the major brands, and the Turbosound Aspect speakers have best-in-class sound. It's not something that specifications can quantify. For great intelligibility and full-range sound in a stadium application, there's nothing else like it. With Aspect, we can achieve a clear, musical 100 dB in the seats, and that's not an easy task."
While the speakers are somewhat protected within the scoreboard, Landry had them weatherproofed and placed behind a grille. "They can still get wet in a hard-driven rain, but the Turbosounds can take it," declares Landry. "We haven't had a single problem. I've put Turbosound in several stadiums in the area and I can describe their reliability in one word: flawless."
From design to installation, the Southern University scoreboard installation took twelve days. "That was some fast action," Landry recalls. "We had an 85-foot lift to get to the scoreboard. To get the crane, the amps and the speakers on site and installed in that timeframe, especially after an event like Hurricane Gustav, was remarkable."
Thurman, who also is the PA announcer, agrees. "With our old system, I would spend all day Monday handling complaints about the sound. Couldn't hear it, couldn't understand the announcer, you name it," he recalls. "It's been a year since we put in the Turbosound system, and I'm still waiting for my first complaint. I couldn't ask for more."
For more information, please visit www.turbosoundusa.com.
