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 Hatfield, UK, June 2008 - The radical remodelling of a Council-owned Hertfordshire swimming pool between 1989-1991 resulted in a new type of building geometry, topped off with a giant hyperbolic roof which at that time was the largest of its kind in the world.
During the first quarter of 2006, The Finesse Leisure Partnership, who manage the Hatfield Swim Centre for Welwyn Hatfield Council, completed a £750,000 council-funded refurbishment of the technical infrastructure for the local authority.
Part of the work included a new four-zone sound system, combining areas such as the expanded Fitness Room, Reception and Health Spa, using large quantities of QSC AD-CI52T ceiling speakers and multi-channel amplifiers, provided by Clarity in Sound, Light and Vision.
With this phase complete, Finesse set out to systematically upgrade other new areas with QSC ceiling speakers, such as the Reflex Vibro Gym.
At the beginning of this year Clarity SLV returned to fit four QSC AD-S82 loudspeakers in the dance studio, for local use by the aerobics instructors. Then last month Stuart Graham's company put the icing on the cake, fitting the main pool area with four QSC AD-S282HT transformer version loudspeakers (in white), powered by a QSC CX1202V 2 x 800 watt, 100V line amplifier. At the same time the network was increased to an 8-zone system.
 Said Stuart Graham, "I have used the Acoustic Design™ range in a number of venues now and am really impressed by their performance whatever the application.
"Initially we used the AD-CI52T loudspeakers in Hatfield, which are very clear, give a good all round performance at low or high levels and are ideal in high-humidity environments such as spa pools and steam rooms.
"When it came to replacing the main pool system we knew we would be working in a difficult environment because of the roof geometry; although we have used QSC's AD-S52 and AD-S82 in many applications this was the first time we had worked with the AD-S282." Since the budget would not stretch to sub-bass reinforcement, Graham knew he would need to rely on the fully frequency range of the AD-S282 - and he was not disappointed.
The four AD-S282HT loudspeakers are mounted to the building's four support columns using Powerdrive brackets, with the two near speakers angled to fire up into the viewing gallery.
The sleekly-styled, weather-resistant AD-S282HT with Advanced Directivity™ rotatable waveguide, is highly complementary to the building's pioneering architecture. The two-way system incorporates dual 8 inch weather-resistant, LF transducers with a 1 inch exit compression HF driver. The HF driver is coupled with QSC's unique 90° x 60° Advanced Directivity rotatable waveguide - enabling the loudspeaker to deliver accurately focused sound, regardless of its mounted orientation.
To optimise the efficiency of the system in this huge, glazed volumetric space, the installers turned to Shure's DFR22 digital processor to tame potential reverberation.
To demonstrate how carefully Clarity had balanced the EQ, Stuart Graham installed an eight-zone paging mic - and the enhanced level of speech intelligibility has certainly impressed Finesse Health & Fitness manager, Amanda Morris, who says that given the extraordinary ceiling height, the efficiency and even coverage of the new public address system has been a revelation.
"Everyone has certainly noticed the improvement in audibility and the response time when staff are summoned to Reception has improved dramatically. It's a much more professional set-up." With Fire Alarm override she says all eight zones can be reached, enabling the new comms to implement immediate emergency and evacuation procedures.
Aside from the QSC AD-S282HTs role in alert situations it also has to handle a wide range of source inputs - from multiplay CD to MP3 and mic plug-ins for private swimming parties - and, of course, the obligatory new age/whale music in the health spa. "With local source select we can route any signal to any of the eight zones - and the QSC system copes with everything we throw at it," she says. "It gives us tremendous flexibility."
QSC Audio Products, LLC is a leading manufacturer of power amplifiers, loudspeakers, signal processing, digital signal transport, and computer control systems for professional audio markets worldwide.
For further information contact the sales team at Clarity in Sound Light & Vision Limited.
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