The 22 May Stadium in the Yemeni city of Aden has installed a PA/VA system based on TOA products. Ninety-six of the company’s SR-A12 loudspeakers are arranged in 16 towers positioned evenly around the field of play.
DA series amplifiers drive the speakers while the company’s D-2000 audio matrix mixer controls the sound. A VX-2000 system has also been supplied for emergency announcements.
The impetus for the installation, and for the renewal of the 26,000-capacity stadium’s systems generally, was the 2010 Gulf Cup football tournament – the 20th such event to be held but the first to be staged by Yemen. However, the arena can also be used for athletics, other sports and live music concerts, when its capacity can rise to 30,000.
TOA’s Mr K Tanaka said: “Temperatures in Aden can reach 50 degrees Celsius with humidity of more than 80%, so any audio system belonging to a commercial facility has to be capable of withstanding those extremes.
“In the end, the decision was between our 100v line system and a competitor’s proposal for a de-centralised system using powered speakers,” Tanaka recalls. “We convinced the client that our centralised, 100v line solution would result in easier installation and maintenance, greater security, and smoother integration with other electronic systems in the facility.”
The final system design was sold to the end customer via Atlas Trading Store, TOA’s sole distributor in Yemen. Final testing and commissioning was carried out by Atlas Trading in conjunction with TOA Japan.