Washington, D.C. (June 10, 2019)—AVL integration firm Clair Solutions recently modernized the busy Capital One Arena, a venue in Washington, D.C. that seats 20,000 fans and is home to the Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and the Georgetown NCAA men’s basketball team.
The original sound reinforcement system was installed two decades ago, but now it sports new EAW self-powered Anna and Otto adaptive line array elements, complete with custom flown equipment racks. “Capital One Arena’s previous sound reinforcement system was twenty years old,” explained Jim Devenney, Clair Solutions senior systems designer. “It lacked clarity in some seats and was not up to modern expectations for a live arena experience.
“The owners worked with Stuart Shatz at WJHW consultants to draft several possible sound reinforcement solutions that would work for the arena and then put them out to bid,” he continued. “Since we have established relationships with so many different manufacturers, we were able to bid on all of the proposals. They chose us based on our competitive pricing, our well-established record of successful jobs of this scope, and on our proximity to Capital One Arena.”
At the heart of the new system are six self-powered EAW adaptive line array clusters. Each cluster uses nine Anna full-range components and five Otto subwoofer components. To minimize runs, Clair Solutions technicians built and installed custom equipment racks to fly behind each cluster for I/O, power distribution, and network switches and ran new fiber from the mix position to the equipment racks. The fiber carries signal (fully-redundant Dante, plus analog backup) from a BSS Blu DSP and networking system that in turn takes its feed from an existing console at the mix position.
In addition, the fiber allows the operators to steer the EAW system. For example, if the upper bowl isn’t being used, the upper Anna components can steer down to reinforce the lower bowl. Clair Solutions worked with Mountain Productions to install the EAW clusters on hoists. A custom Niscon/Raynok hoist control system allows the clusters to raise and lower to storage, maintenance, and use positions, either individually or as a group.
Although the main EAW clusters cover the vast majority of the arena, several additional areas of fill were needed. A full two-dozen EAW QX364 full-range loudspeakers cover the upper-quarter of the upper bowl. Appropriate delays from the BSS DSP ensure coherent arrival times relative to the main system. Meanwhile, 16 Fulcrum AH463 horns aim straight down from above the hockey dasher to cover fans who are right up against the glass (and thus in the shadow of the main system). Those horns are turned off for non-hockey events. Lastly, eight more Fulcrum CX 1265 speakers cover the court area from the scoreboard. Although the line arrays are self-powered, Crown DCi amplifiers power all of the fill loudspeakers.
“Clair Solutions was a terrific partner throughout our recent sound system replacement at Capital One Arena,” said David Touhey, president, venues at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns and operates Capital One Arena. “They were organized, timely, available to troubleshoot at any twist or turn, and provided constant communication throughout the process. Clair Solutions has been very supportive in the initial operations of the sound system upgrade, and we are appreciative of all their hard work in helping us provide the best overall fan experience.”
Clair Solutions • www.clairsolutions.com
