Millwall Football Club in London recently overhauled its audio system with an eye on attracting entertainment events to its stadium, known affectionately as The Den. Community Professional Loudspeaker’s R-Series were chosen to handle the challenge following an on-site demonstration by Community’s UK distributor, CUK.
The original audio system at The Den was designed as a speech focused PA and voice warning system, centred on SH494 horns loaded with M200 mid-range drivers manufactured by Community. Following an overcrowding disaster at another UK stadium in 1989, the 20,146-seat Den was designed with effective crowd management in mind, with the escape routes being short and direct. The PA system had performed well since the stadium opened in 1993, but the club's board and shareholders were keen to improve the audio from a PA system into an entertainment system.
The club turned to their existing CCTV and AV supplier for a solution, who in turn contacted Community's UK distributor CUK Audio. The installer asked for a demonstration to be held on-site.
CUK's Stuart Cunningham acoustically modelled the venue and designed a system that would deliver the performance required, while taking the budgetary and mounting location restrictions into consideration. Cunningham selected R-Series R1-66Z and R1-94Z loudspeakers. The final sound system comprised a total of 40 R1 loudspeakers with some of the existing SH494 horns re-deployed to provide effective pitch coverage. Lee Thompson of Lancashire-based contractor Pure Install carried out the final system commissioning.