The University of Virginia’s Memorial Gymnasium, which was the site where president Roosevelt famously delivered his impromptu ‘stab in the back speech’ in 1940, has been equipped with sound system centred om Danley Synergy Horn loudspeakers. With capacity of 2,500 seated, the facility serves as a workout center and home to the school’s volleyball, wrestling, and intramural sports teams. Integrator dB Audio & Video of Gainesville, US, was enlisted to renovate the sound reinforcement system, which was previously centered on four clusters of horns fitted in the rafters. This was unsuitable as untreated brick walls in the venue meant sound had poorly controlled patterns. “It was an echo chamber,” comments David Clark, operations manager at dB Audio & Video. “It was very difficult to understand what was being said.” Clark opted for eight Danley SH-69s, three each on either end of the building and two at the midline. These are augmented by a pair of Danley TH-118 subwoofers deployed in the rafters to drive bass, splitting the distance between the three clusters of SH-69s. The Danley SH-69’s use a 60×90 pattern to counteract the ‘echo’ factor at the Memorial Gymnasium, this is possible thnaks to the Synergy Horn technology which enables defined pattern control. Furthemore, input tuning is handled by a Danley DSLP48 DSP, as well as loudspeaker conditioning and protection. Powering the SH-69s are two Danley DSLA-3.3k amplifiers, while one Danley DSLA-6.5k amp powers both subwoofers. “The system turned out sounding really nice. The intelligibility improved one-hundred percent, and now the fans can understand everything that’s being said,” comments Clark. “Moreover, we were able to position the loudspeakers and subwoofers high above the rafters – above the light fixtures even – so that the aesthetics of the building remain intact. With the clarity of the Danley SH-69s and the undistorted thump of the Danley TH-118s, the sound quality of music in Memorial Gymnasium is now amazing!”
