Victory Preparatory Academy in the Denver suburb of Commerce City
USA - Victory Preparatory Academy in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado is a new charter school for middle school and high school students. Successful applicants to VPA score in the top ten-percent on state tests, making it an elite place of learning for nearly 500 students ranging from sixth grade to tenth grade.

To ensure the growth of its recently-kindled school spirit, school district officials hired Audio Visual Colorado to design and install a high-impact sound reinforcement system in its combination gymnasium/auditorium. AV Colorado obliged, giving VPA a pair of high-fidelity Danley Sound Labs SM-100F full-range loudspeakers, whose pattern control keep energy on the students in the bleachers... and not on the untreated walls.

"The client wanted a high-energy system," said Jeff Brotherston, president and design engineer at AV Colorado. "When you've got a ton of screaming kids in the bleachers, you can't wimp out. At the same time, intelligibility was critical, and that was a big challenge. They didn't budget for any acoustical treatment, so the room sounded, well, just like a gym.

"We needed excellent pattern control to keep energy off the walls, and that's exactly what we got with the Danley SM-100F." One Danley DSLA 7500 dual-channel amplifier powers the system. In addition to the two main Danley SM100s, two JBL speakers cover the gymnasium floor.

Inputs to the system include various music sources and a collection of AKG wireless microphones, supported by an RFvenue Diversity Fin Antenna. A DBX Zone Pro DSP provides modest input conditioning and loudspeaker conditioning. Two Danley DSLA 7500 dual channel amplifiers power the system. In addition to the two main Danley SM-100Fs, a handful of JBL CBT-70 loudspeakers cover the gymnasium floor.

"With the Danley amplifiers and the SM-100Fs, we had plenty of horsepower," said Brotherston. "The full-range enclosure of the SM-100F is coupled to a 15-inch low-frequency driver, so we were able to give them excellent low-frequency response, even without dedicated subwoofers. They have a system with smooth coverage from the top of the frequency range to the bottom."

(Jim Evans)


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