The Florida State Seminoles play all of their home games at Doak Campbell
Stadium, which has grown from 15,000 seats in 1953 to nearly 80,000 seats today.
The name of the field itself honors head coach Bobby Bowden, who led the
Seminoles to over a dozen championship wins between 1976 and his retirement in
2009. Against that storied backdrop, Florida State University now has the most
powerful sound reinforcement system of any sports stadium in the world Powered
by 320,000 Watts of clean Danley Sound Labs power, the system is also the first to
feature two massive Danley J-5 Caleb loudspeakers, which have proven capable of
delivering 113dB of clean, undistorted audio to the seating beyond the opposite end
zone, along with additional Danley Jericho Horns, Synergy Horns, and BC
subwoofers.

Larry Lucas, director of audio and broadcast engineering at Anthony James
Partners, created the new design for the system, which relies entirely on Danley’s
point-source boxes. “Unlike most stadiums of its size, Doak Campbell Stadium has
no balcony from which to hang a distributed system, or even to hang fill speakers,’
said Kyle VanLandingham, project manager for All Pro Sound of Pensacola, Florida,
the company that installed the system. Michael Walden, systems designer at All Pro
Sound, worked with Lucas’ plans to make the design a reality.

“As opposed to a line array solution, Danley allowed us to meet FSU’s budget while
still delivering jaw-dropping pattern control, low-frequency output, and plenty of
natural-sounding volume and intelligibility,’ said Chris Bencsik of Bencsik
Associates, Danley’s manufacturer’s rep in Florida.

Among those boxes were two massive Danley J-5 Caleb Horns, which provide
coverage for the field and the far side of the stadium. At ten feet tall and
strategically packed with 108 drivers, the Caleb Horn fires phase-coherent audio
with a 40-deg by 15-deg beam width and frequency response down to 30Hz. Doak
Campbell Stadium is the first facility to use more than one Caleb Horn.

In addition, five Danley J-3 Jericho Horns cover the remainder of the stadium, with
fill provided by four Danley SH-46 Synergy Horn loudspeakers and two Danley OS-
80 molded loudspeakers. Eight Danley BC-218 subwoofers provide abundant low
end.

“From what I understand, FSU now has the most powerful sound reinforcement
system in all of sports,’ said VanLandingham. “At four channels each, sixteen
Danley DNA-20K4 PRO amplifiers power the system. You’re not going to go to a
sporting event anywhere else and get a better experience. This system is at the
top.’

In addition, the relatively few boxes made installing the system comparatively
easy. “The two Caleb’s provide a significant portion of coverage to the stadium, with
five additional Jericho’s making up most of what’s left. To see a stadium of this
size, evenly covered by six full-range speakers and four subs on each side of a
scoreboard is impressive. We had the entire speaker system installed, aimed, and
commissioned in a matter of days, not weeks,’ said Walden.