L-Acoustics brings the best sound to the spectacular Pyramid of Long Beach

Considered the largest spatial structure in North America, Walter Pyramid has renewed its sound infrastructure with L-Acoustics Ai Series.

The company Vizual Symphony has been the company in charge of renewing the sound infrastructure of the spectacular sports building Water Pyramid, who opted for the system L-Acoustics Ai Series.

Home of Long Beach State basketball and volleyball for more than 20 years, Walter Pyramid has become a national icon for the university and the city of Long Beach. Its spectacular appearance, Multipurpose and attractive capability for television production, has made it one of the best collegiate sports facilities in the Western United States.

Its exterior uniqueness also presents interior geometric challenges.. With its more than 105.000 meters on either side of the perfectly square base is believed to be the largest spatial structure in the country.. Accommodates three full basketball courts and four additional half-courts, In addition to having a cantilevered seating system mounted on mobile platforms.

When floor level use is required for physical education classes, each seating platform of 81 tons can be raised hydraulically to expose more than 11.887 square meters of beech wood flooring.

The building also features a state-of-the-art conference center, The Pointe, A premier venue for academic conferences, workshops, Seminars and Banquets. Walter's Pyramid also features the Long Beach State Fitness and Strength Center.

However, Walter Pyramid also stands out for presenting the best sound of a pyramid, thanks to the installation of a new sound system from L-Acoustics Ai Series. A project completed earlier this year.

The original public address system, installed at the beginning of the decade of 1990, had more in common with those of ancient Egypt, as it was old and had outdated technology. It was ineffective for this type of building.. Its suspended speakers had stopped working at the beginning of the year and were being replaced by other laptops..

The search for a new sound system for the venue was a challenge considering its geometry., its unique movable seating system and venue requirements to host a wide range of activities, From sports to banquets.

Unlike many enclosures with retractable seats, the lower room of the Water Pyramid is folding and rises in drawbridge-like sections to create an open plan. In this 'seats up' configuration, The metal bottoms of the seat sections become acoustic reflectors around the bottom bowl.

The company Vizual Symphony, based in Burbank, was the integrator in charge of the installation of the new L-Acoustics Ai Series system, while the design was the responsibility of the consultant Idibri. The project included the replacement of the entire truss system, What was not an easy task in a building without parallel surfaces.

likewise, It was necessary to make a new audio wiring and it was done with gauge cables 8 that they had to travel to 58 metre, place where the highest point was located.

The new design of the speaker system is typical for a sand installation. A four-sided group with A15i Focus speakers as main enclosures, two per suspension, except for a suspension, which has only one A15i to shorten it over an area without bleachers.

The four pendants are reinforced with a A15i Wide at the bottom and a sub KS21i at the top. A horizontally hung array of four A10i Wide provides coverage on the court floor. An amplified controller LA2Xi and another LA4X feed and process the entire system.

"The old sound system had acoustic challenges because of the shape and design of the building.. The volume configuration for the lower seating area would be on one level, while the fans in the upper seats would be literally exploding.", Explains Mark Edrington, Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Long Beach State

Ryan Knox of Idibri reveals the secret of how the installation was carried out. "We use the flexibility of the Ai series' vertical and horizontal patterns to maximize seat coverage and minimize sound hitting walls in both the 'seats above'’ as in the 'seats down'. Soundvision tested coverage quickly and Ease was used to verify that the design was optimized for the unique acoustic environment and would achieve intelligibility goals, which he did".

Other articles on Idibri Consulting, L-Acoustics, Soundvision, Vizual Symphony, Walter Pyramid