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PHOENIX, Arizona \u2013 March 2021<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s had multiple names since it first opened in June of 1992, but Phoenix Suns Arena<\/a>\u2014formerly America West Arena, US Airways Center, and Talking Stick Resort Arena\u2014has been the home of NBA’s<\/a> Phoenix Suns<\/a> since day one. What has changed recently is how the venue sounds, with a new L-Acoustics Kara<\/a> <\/a>II<\/a> loudspeaker system in place just in time for the 2020-21 NBA season, which began with a Suns win over the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> on December 23, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Designed by AV consultants at WJHW and installed by Pro Sound & Video<\/a>, a Solotech<\/a> company, the new Kara II system is part of the $230 million Project 201: PHX Reimagined<\/a>, designed to convert the nearly 30-year-old arena into a state-of-the-art sports entertainment venue for Phoenix Suns and WNBA<\/a> Phoenix Mercury<\/a> fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Pro Sound & Video, the arena\u2019s management specifically requested an L-Acoustics PA system as part of the ongoing and extensive venue renovation, including new distributed sound systems for the arena\u2019s concourses and back-of-house areas. \u201cThe venue\u2019s management has had positive experiences with L-Acoustics in other locations in the past, and the brand has become widely accepted by NBA arenas,\u201d says Pro Sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The integrator points out that Kara II was chosen for its light weight and powerful output capability. \u201cWe had to stay within certain weight limits on the steel for this project, especially since the system is designed to be pulled up and out of the way, potentially, when touring shows come through with their own sound systems,\u201d they explain. \u201cWe worked very closely with the structural engineers to make sure we were well within the weight limits. At the same time, this is a large venue\u201d\u2014Phoenix Suns Arena has a seating capacity of over 18,000\u2014\u201cand the sound needs to cover the entire seating area and court. Kara II is not only compact and lightweight, but it also has a lot of power for its size. And it offers a lot of sonic transparency as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the number of fans in attendance still being strictly limited per current safety protocols, acoustical reflection and reverberation issues from empty seating areas are a potential concern. \u201cThankfully, Kara II has a tight dispersion directivity and high degree of speech intelligibility,\u201d Pro Sound adds. \u201cThose have become more and more important in sports venue sound designs and are reasons why L-Acoustics is seen in more arenas and stadiums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phoenix Suns Director of Engineering & A\/V Technology Gary Gillespie agrees, citing hearing L-Acoustics systems installed at the NFL<\/a> Arizona Cardinals<\/a> State Farm Stadium<\/a> and NHL<\/a> Arizona Coyotes<\/a> Gila River Arena<\/a> in nearby Glendale. \u201cI\u2019m also a live-sound mixer, so I\u2019ve had a lot of experience with L-Acoustics, and I\u2019m a fan of their sound,\u201d he says. \u201cBut our team leadership also highly values the intelligibility that Kara II brings to speech in the arena and the fact that L-Acoustics WST systems never cause ear fatigue for the fans. It\u2019s just a great-sounding system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The arena\u2019s new system comprises six arrays of 14 Kara II enclosures for a total of 84 Kara II, plus a hang of four SB18i<\/strong> <\/a>subwoofers flown in a cardioid configuration directly behind each Kara II array. In addition, there are 28 short-throw X12<\/a> coaxials deployed as a delay ring. All of these are powered by 43 LA4X<\/a> amplified controllers\u201436 for the main PA and seven for the delays\u2014providing over 170 channels of amplification. Furthermore, a single LA12X<\/a> powers eight A10<\/a> loudspeakers positioned underneath the center-mounted scoreboard serving as court fills. Self-powered, coaxial 108P monitors are also installed in the new media editing suite to replicate the response of the Kara II main bowl system for accurate media reproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The design of the Phoenix Suns\u2019 new sound system originally called for eight hangs of Kara. However, this was changed to accommodate revised weight-load requirements for touring systems. With last year\u2019s addition of Panflex to the original Kara loudspeaker model, providing four-in-one directivity, Kara II was a \u201cgame-changer\u201d for the Suns. Now, one box could cover any audience geometry and offer consistent coverage and SPL distribution with precise focus in four different directivity patterns: 70 degrees or 110 degrees symmetrical and 90 degrees asymmetrical, focusing directivity to either the left or right. In its 70-degree configuration, Kara II packs a full 2 dB more than in 110 degrees. That prompted design changes that allowed just six arrays to fulfill the coverage requirements of the bowl without having to alter the product specification from Kara II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n L-Acoustics Soundvision <\/a>3D modeling software was used to execute the system design and all revisions quickly and accurately. This particular revision provided the venue with 28 additional Kara II from the original order that Gillespie and the Phoenix Suns management team decided would serve as onsite production inventory and be used as a flexible multi-use, in-house special-events production audio system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone in arena management knows to \u201cexpect the unexpected.\u201d As fate would have it, those extra Kara II enclosures came in very handy almost immediately after the NBA directed their teams to implement their own enhanced crowd-noise systems for the current season. The additional inventory, plus eight more enclosures rented from the local shop of Clearwing Productions<\/a>, now make up six hangs of six Kara II and are dedicated to the virtual crowd-noise system developed by Firehouse Productions<\/a> for the NBA\u2019s Orlando \u201cbubble\u201d last season, now in place at most NBA venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKara II\u2019s Panflex update provided us with the extra speakers we needed for the crowd-noise system at exactly the right time,\u201d he says. \u201cWe began to see ROI right away on what we had thought would be extra inventory, and it turned a frown upside-down. And with up to 3,000 fans allowed inside now, the system truly makes it sound like a full house. L-Acoustics, Pro Sound & Video, and WJHW really partnered with us to create a greatly enhanced experience for both the fans and the players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more details on Phoenix Suns Arena, visit www.phoenixsunsarena.com<\/a>. Pro Sound & Video and WJHW can also be found online at www.prosound.net<\/a> and www.wjhw.com<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A new Kara II sound system was installed just in time for the 2021 NBA season, part of a larger $230 million project to update the venue PHOENIX, Arizona \u2013 March 2021 \u2013 It\u2019s had multiple names since it first opened in June of 1992, but Phoenix Suns Arena\u2014formerly America West Arena, US Airways Center, and Talking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"news_tags":"","tags_api":"","footnotes":""},"news-tag":[],"class_list":["post-13090","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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