UNION, NJ – Union High School recently upgraded the 20-year old sound system at its football field, which also hosts track and field meets and commencement ceremonies, with One Systems direct weather loudspeakers. Scott Hibbard Audio Design & Engineering of Florham Park, NJ performed the design and installation of the 212CIM and 208CIM systems for the school.
More details from One Systems (www.onesystems.com):
There was a critical need to improve the sound quality and sonic impact of the previous sound system with a newer system capable of full range audio. The previous system consisted of traditional paging horns powered with less than 100 watts of amplification, which had finally expired. Understanding this, Union High School officials tapped Hibbard for a full system revamp.
Hibbard Audio chose One Systems speakers based on his previous experience with the product line, and the fact that their sound quality rivals the best full-range loudspeaker systems available, as well as having complete protection in any outdoor weather condition. Another key factor included the ease of use and operation; the old system required continuous, time-consuming maintenance. Owner, Scott Hibbard talks about his first experience with One Systems speakers, “One Systems was kind enough to supply me with a demo 212CIM for this particular customer in the past for an on-site demo. Using just one 212CIM for the demo, the customer was extremely impressed. I knew adding a combination of five 208CIM’s and 212 CIMs to the final design would create a sound system that would greatly exceed the customer’s expectations without breaking the bank.”
As Hibbard began designing the system layout he chose the press box to mount the speakers, which offers an ideal location for coverage and projection. All speakers were installed on the roof of the press box and mounted with One Systems U-Brackets. No other hardware was required.
The 212CIM is mounted in the center of the press box as “Zone 1” and is powered by its own QSC ISA amplifier. The 212CIM projects sound across the field for visitor’s side bleacher coverage some 70 yards away, which it delivers perfectly. To the left and right of the center 212CIM are two (2) 208CIM’s per side. The front 208CIM’s are used for home bleacher and inner field coverage. The outer 208CIM’s cover the far end of the home bleachers and the end zones. The four (4) 208CIM’s make-up “Zone 2”, and each zone’s volume can be adjusted independently.
The challenge of this installation was being able to have high musicality and speech intelligibility for the bleachers as well as the players, without noise spilling over into nearby neighborhoods. “The previous system was notorious for this and we knew that we needed to keep that from happening with the new system,” says Hibbard.
Scott Hibbard discussed his satisfaction with the final performance of the system. “I am very pleased with the performance of One Systems speakers. This system is a night and day improvement over the previous one. Vocal intelligibility has been dramatically improved. Coverage is now extremely even across the entire listening area. Finally, the One Systems speakers reproduce spoken word and music with clarity and depth normally associated with indoor systems without the worry of what Mother Nature might throw at them.”
The field, which holds around 1,500 spectators, is an example of an outdoor venue that required highly intelligible speakers that can reproduce music and speech accurately. “With temperatures in New Jersey ranging from 5 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, heavy snowfall and rain storms, we knew One Systems could provide great sound and will last for years to come,” says One Systems President, Doug MacCallum.
