All-Pro Freight Stadium opens with Electro-Voice audio
The Lake Erie Crushers, the newest Frontier League expansion baseball team, played their first game at their new ballpark in Avon, Ohio on June 1. The Crushers won 5-2 against the Windy City Thunderbolts, but the real story was All-Pro Freight Stadium, the Crushers’ brand-new, state-of-the-art facility fitted with equipment from Electro-Voice.
All-Pro Freight Stadium is owned by the City of Avon and, in addition to providing a home for the Crushers, will serve as a venue for a variety of high school and amateur baseball tournaments, large concerts, and other outdoor events. The stadium has enough seating in bleachers and box seats for more than 7,600 spectators, and features 11 private suites, a terrace with four-person tables, outfield berm seating, and picnic and patio areas for group outings. Jim Rivard of Paladin Sound comments:
“We were approached by Osborn Engineering to do the design for the sound system. The audio spec comprises 19 ZX3-60 speakers driven by six P3000RL remote control amplifiers, ZX1i-100 loudspeakers for fill and suite balconies, and EVID C4.2T ceiling speakers for the space inside the suites and restrooms. The ZX1i are driven by a P1200RT amplifier, and the EVIDs are driven by a P900RT amp. All compact, high-quality systems that look as good as they sound in this new space.”
This comprehensive distribution of EV equipment has also been configured to provide a unique listening experience for fans watching the game in any of the 11 private suites: “Guests can select whether they want to listen to the game locally or over the radio,” says Rivard. “We have P900RT amplifiers running the EVIDs in all the suites, each with one channel delivering audio from the ballpark, and the other dedicated to radio.”
The Electro-Voice spec also extends to the stadium’s Party Patio. At the push of a button, the ZX boxes in this area can be fed audio from either the ballpark or from local inputs. Guests can have a party pre- or post-game and easily switch over to pay attention to the game commentary.
“The EV speakers not only offer intelligibility for the usual in-game announcements and commentary, but they also have the ability to kick it up a notch and play some music as well,” says Rivard.
In addition to the wide array of ZX Series loudspeakers and remote control amps at All-Pro Freight Stadium, the system also uses two channels of Telex Intercom, an REV-D wireless receiver with two REV-H handheld microphones with 767a elements, and EV Force i monitors for small-scale entertainment and anthems. The stadium announcer also uses a Polar Choice desktop mic.
“This stadium is input-to-output EV,” says Rivard, “and everything sounds great.”