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With Sydney FC set to be playing their home A-League fixtures at Jubilee Oval in Kogarah and Leichardt Oval for the next three seasons while the Sydney Football Stadium is redeveloped, the club has turned to The P.A. People to deliver a high quality sound experience for fans.

The Sydney-based audio visual experts set about recreating their ‘Speaker Carts’ - designed to provide quality sound reinforcement in stadiums. This significantly expands their inventory of Bose ShowMatch Delta-Q cabinets and Linea Research amplification.

The P.A. People Managing Director Chris Dodds advised “shortly after we deployed our first Bose ShowMatch system for the Sydney Kings in Qudos Bank Arena in October, we were approached by Sydney FC to look at providing a system for their home matches over the next three years.

“We were very happy with the sound of the ShowMatch system for the Kings, so we set about working out the best way to deploy a system around a football field on a weekly basis. The end result is a reimagining of the speaker carts that we built for SuperLeague over 20 years ago.”

Each Bose ‘cart’ is designed to house an array of ShowMatch cabinets flanked by two SMS118 18” subwoofers. Under the rear sub cabinet is an amplifier sleeve that houses a Linea Research 44M20 four channel amplifier and a network switch. Under the front sub is the steering axle, while the space behind the array cabinets houses a flip up panel concealing the mains and signal connector panels.

The ‘Carts’ leverage ShowMatch’s unique Delta-Q array technology. In its standard configuration each ‘Cart’ array comprises a SM20 20degree, SM10 10 degree and an SM5 5-degree cabinet. As the vertical coverage decreases the output of each cabinet increases, providing a natural gradient of SPL without having to shade the power applied to each box. Coupled with the selection of wave guides the ShowMatch system is able to provide a high-power full range solution with exceptionally even coverage both vertically and horizontally. Array cabinets and subs can be added to the ‘Carts’ to achieve appropriate vertical coverage and sound pressure levels for entertainment applications.

Mechanically the Bose ‘Carts’ ride on four turf tyres and feature a front retractable draw bar and a concealed rear hitch enabling the units to be towed in a line. These are towed into place behind a Kubota diesel UTV which forms part of The P.A. People ‘Cart’ package. Each unit is 2.4 metres long, 800mm wide and sits at around 900mm high, and comes complete with a full set of 75mm sports grade padding to the rear and ends, to reduce the risk of player injury should they inadvertently come in contact with the system.

The system has been matched with amplification from Linea Research in the UK. Celebrating 15 years in business, the team from Linea have developed an amplification platform second to none. Both of The P.A. People’s ShowMatch systems are powered by Dante enabled Linea Research 44M20 amplifiers, each capable of developing 20kW of power over four channels in a 2ru high chassis. As you would expect, the amps feature a comprehensive DSP based signal processing and management chain and their own control application.

The P.A. People have again opted for an entirely Dante based signal distribution system for the Cart system. The system is in and out of the venue every match so being able to connect a single loom for signal distribution and power is great. Each unit is interconnected with a loom comprising a 32A Ceeform mains cable and a single mode OpticalCon four core fibre cable. Optical interconnection was chosen for electrical safety, eliminating the possibility of earth loops from different mains sources, as well as providing a second fibre path that can be utilised for video or comms applications.

The system for Sydney FC is supplemented with a comprehensive Clear-Com Communications system centred around a HelixNet digital partyline system and a FreeSpeak II wireless solution.

Dodds added “The P.A. People can now field a 120 cabinet ShowMatch system from our own inventory. The options of ground stacking, flying in an arena or using our new ‘Cart’ system means we are able to provide the highest quality sound reinforcement for any sporting venue or fixture.

“It is great to be back in the large-scale sound reinforcement market with a new market leading sound system. We look forward to letting our customers hear what it can deliver for them.”

Commenting on the effectiveness of the technology, Sydney FC Chief Executive, Danny Townsend advised “The P.A. People have been excellent partners for Sydney FC in both the provision of fantastic sound and audio systems for Sky Blues Members and fans at our home.

“We are delighted to have them as a Sydney FC partner and are excited about continuing to work with them on our Sydney FC events.”

Sydney FC General Manager - Commercial Development, Gary Bevan added “we have worked closely with The P.A. People to upgrade a number of key areas with the intention of enhancing the match day experience for our fans. Sydney FC supporters deserve a winning team, a first-class environment in which to enjoy their football, and we aim to deliver both of these over the next few seasons with this partnership.”

Click here to contact The P.A. People via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Images of Jubilee Oval courtesy of The P.A. People.

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