Football at Colorado School of Mines is a tradition dating back to 1893 allowing the
school to boast of the “oldest football field west of the Mississippi’. And, in
September 2015, Mines celebrated the opening of its new, 5300-seat “Marv Kay’
stadium with meeting and event rooms, a large press box and VIP suites, dedicated
sports medicine and strength training spaces and a new sound system with
Community R SERIES loudspeakers.

Tom Falgien of consulting firm WJHW designed the stadium’s new sound system.
Falgien says the planning and needs analysis began in August of 2013 and involved
the stadium’s architectural firm and the school’s athletic staff. The school wanted
even coverage for the field and for both home and visitors seating with high voice
intelligibility and plenty of level to overcome crowd noise. They also wanted a
modern system with extended frequency range and high musical sound quality to
enhance the fan experience.

To achieve these goals and meet the school’s budget, Falgien chose a point-source
system design using three Community R6-51 loudspeakers located inside of the
scoreboard at the end of the field. He says “a scoreboard system offers both good
value and performance for this type of project.’ The three R6-51 loudspeakers
provide good coverage of all areas along with plenty of level and extended low-
frequency response for team music and half-time shows. Falgien says he
appreciates the R6-51’s presence peak which enhances voice intelligibility.

Crown amplifiers power the system with a BSS London DSP, Allen & Heath Qu-16
digital mixer and Tascam CD player. The system includes a Shure announce
microphone and Lectrosonics wireless mics for the referees with a hand-held
wireless for field use. Seventeen Community DP6 pendant loudspeakers serve the
strength training room and twenty Community D6 ceiling loudspeakers are installed
in the suites and press box.

Integrator AVI-SPL installed the stadium’s audio system. The installation was
completed in time for the Oredigger’s first game of the season, a September 5th,
2015 victory over South Dakota School of Mines. Project Engineer Michael Bobela
noted that the design was very thorough and the system “fills the whole valley from
three speakers’. Consultant Falgien says the school is thrilled with the new stadium
and they expect it to enhance recruiting success. He noted “the football team loves
the new sound system and would like to have it turned on at every practice and use
it all the time.’