L-Acoustics Delivers Crystal Clear Audio Over the Rumble and Roar of 28,000 Fans at Ullevaal Stadium L-Acoustics Delivers Crystal Clear Audio Over the Rumble and Roar of 28,000 Fans...
A Series system offers concert-style acoustical performance, solid speech intelligibility, and excellent coverage distribution to Norway’s national football stadium
OSLO, Norway – May 2022 – For almost a century, Ullevaal Stadium has been the beating heart of the city of Oslo and a crucible of local community and identity. Its creation was instigated by the Lyn Oslo football club in 1926, and it is currently the home ground of the Norway national football team. It is also the site of the Norwegian Cup Final, when thousands of fans descend on the stadium, roaring in unison as the teams vie for victory. With the previous PA system having served the stadium well for 24 years, this year marks the start of a new acoustical era for Ullevaal Stadium with the installation of the L-Acoustics A Series system.
L-Acoustics Certified Provider Distributor for Norway, Scandec Systemer AS has been working with Ullevaal Stadium since the early eighties, having designed and delivered the previous PA system back in 1998. Knowing that the time for an upgrade was approaching, Scandec’s product manager John Idar Bakke had already started the design of a new system back in 2018.
When the official tender was released last year, three companies, Spectre, Assemblin, and Scandec, teamed up to be fully prepared with a new, future-proof L-Acoustics sound system design, which they presented to Ullevaal Stadium. Spectre is a Norwegian rental company and has been responsible for managing the stadium’s sound for several years, while Nordic end-to-end installation and service partner, Assemblin, would be responsible for installing the final L-Acoustics system. The design was met with great enthusiasm and was ultimately chosen as the winning bid.
“We knew that L-Acoustics A Series would be the perfect match for this venue and provide ultimate coverage over the entire seating area,” says Scandec’s John Idar Bakke. “The A15i Focus and A15i Wide offer dispersions that are exactly what we needed at Ullevaal, and we were thrilled to be chosen and could bring our system design to life.”
The system consists of a total of 24 main hangs with a total number of 111 A15i Wide/Focus cabinets. The hangs are equally distributed throughout the venue, with six hangs per stadium side. Most of these consist of one A15i Focus, three A15i Wide, with one additional A15i Focus, from top to bottom. There are also six other hangs – four of these in the stadium swing. These vary from two to four A Series per hang, depending on the different demands of coverage. In addition, four X12 cabinets are deployed as fills in the stadium’s media zone. A final two hangs cover sections in front of the media area, consisting of three A15i Wide atop one A15i Focus.
“The system is driven by a total of 30 LA4X amplified controllers, using one channel per cabinet, which gives us great control,” explains Bakke. “Additionally, Panflex technology helps ensure even coverage and great SPL distribution.”
L-Acoustics LS10 switches distribute AVB via fiber around the stadium, with Biamp Tesira Server DSPs handling the audio distribution via AVB and Dante. “The DSPs also handle the delay and EQ for all fill zones,” adds Bakke.
Bakke notes that even though the technical process was very smooth, Norwegian winter proved to be a real challenge for installing the outdoor system; temperatures plummeted below -15 Celsius, so coping with difficult weather, including snow, was part of the project plan. “We had to use extra caution when it came to installing the hangs and ensuring all work surfaces were free of ice and snow. Luckily, we are Norwegian folk, so no frost or biting cold could scare us away!” jokes Bakke.
With the final system installed in February, the reaction from the team at Ullevaal Stadium has been phenomenal. “We are astonished by the versatility the L-Acoustics system delivers,” concludes Thomas Sletbakk. “When commencing this project, it was important for us to get a system that would not only offer us acoustical performance akin to that at major concerts and events and deliver great coverage and solid speech intelligibility. Our new system ticks all those boxes! Its laser-precise coverage means we get perfect sound under any conditions, and, in Norway, this really can mean any condition!”
Ullevaal Stadium’s main system comprises 24 hangs of L-Acoustics A15i Wide/Focus cabinets equally distributed throughout the venue, along with X12 cabinets as fills in the stadium’s media zone. 
Ullevaal Stadium’s main system comprises 24 hangs of L-Acoustics A15i Wide/Focus cabinets equally distributed throughout the venue, along with X12 cabinets as fills in the stadium’s media zone. 
Ullevaal Stadium’s main system comprises 24 hangs of L-Acoustics A15i Wide/Focus cabinets equally distributed throughout the venue, along with X12 cabinets as fills in the stadium’s media zone. 
Close up of one of the main L-Acoustics A15i Wide/Focus hangs. 
Close up of one of the main L-Acoustics A15i Wide/Focus hangs.