A large array of K-array audio systems was recently installed at Viola Park, a large sports centre and football stadium, nestled in the hills near Florence, Italy. Viola Park is a training facility for ACF Fiorentina Serie A football club, as well as the official stadium for the club’s women’s team. Meanwhile, at 26 hectares, Viola Park is one of the largest sports centre in Europe, with 12 regulation pitches and stadiums, gyms, accommodation, as well as medical, media and wellness centres.
In the 3000-seat-capacity Curva Fiesole stadium, the systems integrator, Professional Show, opted for a KGEAR solution comprising a total of 21 GH12 loudspeakers and seven GS18 subwoofers in each bleacher, rigged discreetly to harmonise with the stadium’s architecture.
Aside from the main football stadiums, the project also comprised audio installations at various spaces across the site. In the Media Centre, home to a press room and digital museum, Professional Show and K-array collaborated to design a system that would meet the architect’s request for “an invisible and modular solution” and “ensure clarity of speech during live interviews”. Four Kobra loudspeakers, four Rumble subwoofers and a pair of two linear metres of Anakonda complete this element.
The bars within Viola Park, named Maglia Viola and Il Giglio, boast bespoke audio systems, featuring K-array’s ultra-flat Vyper loudspeakers and Rumble subwoofers, integrated through a QSC Audio control system.
“Drawing from our previous experience with the K-array Mugello system and leveraging the DSP capability of KGEAR GA46 amplifiers, we designed an unconventional loudspeaker reinforcement system that matches the aesthetics of the stadium and guarantees an even coverage of the stands with moderately high SPL,” said Giovanni Beoni, project manager and sales manager, Professional Show. “We developed a quasi-horizontal step array of GH12 loudspeakers to meet the architectural constraints.”
He added: “For each of the seven loudspeaker clusters, the three KGEAR GH12 in-step array configurations are evenly distributed under the ceiling so that the meticulous positioning compensates for the up-tilt angle of the seat coverings. Each GH12 is angled downward with defined tilting angles to maximise coverage across the listening area. Furthermore, each loudspeaker cluster is complemented by a GS18 subwoofer to complete the system frequency response.”
