Intermedia and Community Bring Big Sound to a Big Space

The
Robert P. Knowles Center at the University of Wisconsin River Falls is
a busy place, home to the University’s Indoor Track and Field, tennis
and multiple intramural sporting teams, as well as a wide and growing
range of community activities and events. The massive arena houses a
200-meter indoor running track, a rock climbing wall, basketball,
tennis and volleyball courts, exercise center and more. It’s a
versatile, cavernous and acoustically challenging venue.

“The
announcements were pretty much unintelligible except right underneath
the speakers,” says Intermedia Systems Group’s Doug Klein. “It was less
than ideal to begin with, and as they’ve begun to diversify the use of
the Center, it got to a point where they really needed to address the
audio situation.” Intermedia
consultant Joel Evermann specified a distributed system centered on
eight Community R.5 coaxial loudspeakers, powered by Ashley NE
amplification. Two Community CPL55W subwoofers cover bottom end, and a
Biamp Nexia unit provides system DSP. Shure ULX wireless mics cover the
arena.

“They
use the building for such a wide range of activities, from
commencements and rallies to sporting events,” says Klein. “They needed
good coverage and intelligibility, but they also wanted musicality. The
R.5s are powerhouses, and they do a great job of covering the space.
The inclusion of the CPL subs really filled it out nicely.”