For a few years after their installation, the school used a portable system for every football game, a solution that proved to be of low quality and, moreover, quite a hassle. Severn School called on Baltimore-based A/V contractor HP Electronics to design and install a permanent system. Citing their value and sound quality, HP Electronics installed an Ashly MX-206 six-channel microphone mixer, an Ashly nXp 1.52 two-channel 1500W Network Amplifier with a built-in Protea DSP Processor powering three Danley Sound Labs OS-80 fully-weatherized full-range loudspeakers.
With no press box or permanent building adjacent to the field, HP Electronics Sales Designer Joe Schwartz gave Severn School a portable rack bag that connects to the permanent Danley OS-80s via a simple five-pin connector. Inside the rack, the Ashly MX-206 analog mixer provides a simple, intuitive way to control input volume for an Audio-Technica wireless microphone and a custom input panel for connecting MP3 playback devices and the like. A Furman CN-1800S provides power conditioning and sequencing, and is used to trigger a Furman CN20P within the main rack inside the Athletic Center, allowing the entire system to be powered up from the outdoor mix position.
The Ashly nXp 1.52 provides abundant power and processing for the system in just two rack spaces. "I've always been a fan of Ashly products," said Schwartz. "The MX-206 is simple to use, sounds great, and will serve Severn School a long, long time. The nXp 1.52 delivers a ton of power for the cost, and the optional built-in processing is very convenient and easy to use."
Schwartz configured the three Danley OS-80s such that two cover the left and right sides of the bleachers and one covers the field from a crow's nest above the bleachers. "We've used Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers in a number of churches and auditoriums, and they sound great," he said. "When we saw that Danley had come out with a fully-weatherized loudspeaker that was based on the same design that we had used in the churches, it seemed like an excellent way to go at Severn."
(Jim Evans)
