HYDE PARK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 2013: Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School was built as part of a Depression-era pubic works program in 1941 and owns the rare distinction of being named for a sitting President. Today, the school serves 1,550 students in Hyde Park, New York, FDR’s hometown. Although the original high school building is in the National Register of Historic Places, growth prompted the construction of a larger building long ago, and the school continues to maintain up-to-date facilities. When its athletic field aged beyond useful repair, the school board ordered it razed. Built on the same land, FDR’s new athletic stadium boasts a cutting-edge sound reinforcement system, with power and digital signal processing both provided by the high-efficiency, cost-effective Ashly nXp3.04 high-output power amplifier with on-board Protea™ processor.
Dominick Campana, owner at Pro Sound Associates (Guilderland, New York), led the system’s design and installation, and Live Sound, Inc. (Troy, New York) served as the sound system vendor. “There were several challenges associated with FDR’s new athletic stadium,” explained Campana. “First, we had to provide ample power to four zones over 300-feet of speaker wire – from the head end to the scoreboard. Second, we had to provide flexible and accurate DSP for fine- tuning, system protection, and multiple I/O routing. Third, we only had a short window between system installation and the first football game when we could commission the system. Finally – and this made all the other challenges that much harder – we only had a limited rack space beneath a stairway in the press box and single 20-amp circuit for the entire system. Based on my positive experience with Ashly amplifiers and processors, I suspected that their new nXp3.04 four-channel 3000-watt amplifier with internal DSP would help us overcome all of those challenges.”
Inputs to the system include four Shure ULX-series wireless microphones, three hardwired microphone jacks, and a Tascam CD-200i combination, aux in, iPod, and CD player. They feed a Shure SCM810 9×1 automixer, which in turn feeds the Ashly nXp3.04. The Ashly nXp3.04 is a lightweight, energy-efficient Class D switching amplifier with four 3000-watt channels and an integrated 4×4 Protea DSP. Three of its amplifier channels power three Community R2 loudspeakers at the scoreboard. The final amplifier channel powers a pair of Community DS5 surface-mount loudspeakers in the press box. Additional aux outputs from the nXp3.04’s DSP section feed a Listen Technologies assistive listening system.
“As with all Ashly networkable devices, connecting to and accessing the nXp3.04’s DSP was instantaneous,” said Campana. “Because I have considerable experience with the Ashly ne-Series of DSPs, the layout and workflow of the nXp DSP was pleasingly familiar. The Community R2’s like to see a lot of power, and I knew the nXp3.04 would be able to deliver with a maximum output of 3,000 watts at 2 ohms per channel. Not only was there power to spare, 2000 watts per channel @ 4 ohms, but the nXp3.04 performed at full throttle with only a minimal amperage draw. With all of its brains and brawn, I’ll definitely utilize the Ashly nXp-Series for future jobs – especially at its more-than-fair price point.”
ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in the design and manufacturing of high quality & high performance signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. The 37-year old company is headquartered in Webster, New York U.S.A. www.ashly.com
