Borgata Event Center Gets Major Upgrade with L-Acoustics L Series Professional Sound System Borgata Event Center Gets Major Upgrade with L-Acoustics L Series Professional S...
Bauder Audio Systems replaced a 25-year-old rig at Atlantic City’s busy Event Center with an efficient, high-performance L2/L2D-based professional sound system design
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – September 2025 – “They wanted something rider friendly that could meet the needs of all their events, and they recognized L-Acoustics as a leader in rider requests,” explains Brian Naab, production manager for Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Bauder Audio Systems, speaking about the Event Center at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. “The Event Center is a multi-purpose space that hosts everything from Seinfeld to Def Leppard. It’s comedians, it’s corporate, it’s luncheons, it can be full-blown rock and roll, and so they needed a versatile professional sound system that could handle everything equally well.”
Borgata’s Event Center offers a 175′ x 175′ multi-use ballroom with a hydraulic-lift stage at one end that can sit from floor level up to five feet high. The venue can be transformed into different configurations depending on the type of event being presented, and the speed and ease with which rigging can be moved and the space transformed is also a major plus.
According to Naab, the L-Acoustics L Series system is ideal for the Event Center because it meets the venue’s SPL requirements, and its more compact, slimmer profile improves sight lines, which Borgata’s production team appreciates. “The cardioid and supercardioid options vastly improve rejection behind the PA,” explains Naab. “So, for the corporate events, when they’ve got a CEO walking around on a lav, they’ll have far more gain-before-feedback, which is a great thing. On the other end of the spectrum, their rock and roll clients see the L-Acoustics name and immediately know that the system will provide the SPL and integrity that they’re looking for.”
He notes that he sees installations and tours increasingly making the switch to L2 and L2D because of their “clarity, punch, directionality, size and weight, and incredible rigging speed.” Gone are the concerns over pins and angles, as all vertical adjustments are now done via software, and with Soundvision, dispersion can be precisely tailored to tightly blanket audiences from the front to back row.
Fast and Flexible Performer
“It was important to get something we can move pretty quickly,” says Borgata Production Manager Scott Reagan. “The way the system’s so tunable in the software was a big win for us. The thing that pushed it to L-Acoustics, for me, was the ease of use going up and down and how transparent the sound was. Sarah McLachlan’s tour brought an L Series system here, and it was the best I’d heard our room sound.”
Following the L-Acoustics upgrade, the Center’s typical concert configuration features a 16-foot thrust stage that juts out downstage of the proscenium as an extension to the permanent stage. The PA is flown downstage of that extension, and it consists of a left-right setup of two L-Acoustics L2 over one L2D per side, with six KS28 subwoofers per side flown behind the mains in a cardioid configuration. Eight Kiva II enclosures spread out across the stage lip handle front-fill duties, while an X12 per side covers the gaps on the far edges. The system is fed via an L-Acoustics P1 processor and measurement platform that converts signals from a tour’s consoles into a redundant Milan-AVB drive system.
For comedy performances, the stage thrust is omitted, and the PA flies just downstage of the proscenium with only one L2 over one L2D per side, while the subs are reduced to four per side. With the stage extension removed, the entire hang moves from 20 feet downstage to about four feet downstage of the proscenium. The subs also move offstage of the mains.
The system’s flexibility shines with the venue’s multiple configurations. The Event Center features removable bleachers, a two-thirds house soft curtain, and a half-house hard airwall. “We can fly the PA in one configuration but recall different settings appropriate for each room size,” explains Borgata A1 David Frank. “Whether we’re running with airwalls closed, bleachers in or out, or different size configurations, we have two hang positions and can instantly optimize the sound. That’s a real plus.”
Good coverage is also of paramount importance. “Our coverage has gotten a lot better thanks to the quality and tonality of the speakers,” continues Frank. “We now have a complete system that handles everything—no more renting or pulling gear from trucks.”
Superior Performance and Problem-Solving
Naab says that the room sounds “amazing” now with consistent coverage everywhere in the space. “We’ve found that L2 is really nailing that consistency throughout every project we’ve deployed it on,” he adds. He credits much of that success to L-Acoustics Soundvision acoustical modeling software. “We trust in it,” he confirms. “It’s nice to share our thoughts with the client through Soundvision, and be able to very accurately predict the SPL and coverage that they’re going to achieve.”
The system also solved a persistent acoustic problem. Reagan notes that previously the venue had some slapback issues where sounds would bounce off the back wall when the airwall was in. “With Soundvision and L2, they just hit the button, and it stops the frequencies from bouncing off that wall,” he says. “You get crystal clear audio without having to move anything or treat the walls or deal with anything else. Technology at its finest right there.”
“And tours keep commenting on how much quieter the stage is,” Reagan adds. “One engineer was amazed – he thought everything was off running through the front of house system because the stage was so clean. That’s just how well the cardioid pattern controls directivity.”
Frank says the system “has a good response, and it sounds great,” he remarks. “It meets our high expectations and the expectations of our headliners.” He also feels that the Borgata audio team is constantly learning with the L2 system and all of its possibilities. “We host a lot of events here and regularly go back and forth between the concert and the comedy setups, so speed of switchover is of the essence. We’re still in the process of learning how to best streamline the room’s overall reconfiguration, but the L Series loudspeakers are already a big part of helping that go as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Reagan and Frank offer major props to Bauder Audio, praising their quality service and how they packaged the system and set up its different configurations, as well as to Bauder A1/Systems Engineer Craig “Junior” Kaufmann for being indispensable in understanding the new system and readily available to help with questions.
For more info on the Borgata Event Center, visit https://borgata.mgmresorts.com. Bauder Audio Systems can be found online at www.bauderaudio.com.
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