Luckily for the fans of the University of North Dakota’s hockey team, Grand Forks, North Dakota, is home to the lively Varsity Ice House sports bar that’s often packed wall to wall with people cheering on the nationally-ranked team. This level of energy required Varsity Ice House to seek an outstanding sound system that could accommodate the high volume of people and voices filling the space. Fortunately, LEA Professional was able to provide that power to Varsity Ice House.
If you’re going to watch a hockey game, what better way to do so than surrounding yourself with a hundred fans and countless TVs to watch the game on? Varsity Ice House curates the ideal environment for any hockey fan to watch their favorite team, with a TV everywhere you turn, great food, and flowing drinks. What truly elevates the experience is the all-encompassing sound system.
Varsity Ice House reached out to Paul Hagen at Site on Sound to specify a personalized sound system that fit the needs of bar staff and guests. Based in Fargo and with over 100 years of combined experience, the Site on Sound team was well-equipped to assess the needs of Varsity Ice House and install the best solution, which came from LEA Professional.
“I use LEA amps almost exclusively,” said Hagen. “The LEA Cloud allows me to log into the system and make changes when I’m not onsite and lets me keep an eye on my customers. LEA integrates well with everything else, so using them was a no-brainer.”
Hagen installed one CS1504D, a 4-channel amplifier with 1,500 watts per channel to power the bar’s main speakers, and a CS704D, a 4-channel amplifier with 700 watts per channel to run a few fill areas inside the bar as well as to power the outdoor area. Hagen also utilized the LEA Cloud platform to remote control and monitor from afar, improving response times and the overall quality of service for Varsity Ice House.
As part of the Dante Connect Series, the world’s first Internet of Things- (IoT) enabled professional-grade amplifiers, the 1504D and 704D provided the power and flexibility Hagen needed for the installation, which was sectioned into two zones on the control system running eight zones of speakers. Also, with three ways to connect, the Dante Connect Series allows integrators the ability to engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the venue’s Wi-Fi, or use an existing local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
“The Dante Connect amplifiers simplified everything,” added Hagen. “With the Dante amps and the Dante encoders, the only other hardware I had in the whole place was the jukebox. It made programming and installation easier.”
“There’s nothing quite like cheering on your favorite team alongside other fans, and we’re proud that we get to elevate that experience for Varsity Ice House guests,” said Nathan Ridgway, National Sales Manager at LEA Professional. “This installation proves that innovative, top-quality audio, can turn an already exciting experience into an unforgettable one.”
