The Centre Bell, home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, has undergone an audio upgrade with new systems from EAW.
The Centre Bell is reconfigured, frequently, into one of six different seating formats — ranging from a 2,000-seat amphitheater to a 21,000-seat full-capacity NHL arena, holding a variety of events.
EAW was chosen by way of a competitive bidding process commissioned by Jesse Leveillé, A1 tech at the Centre Bell. The EAW system was able to meet the wide range of applications and audio challenges at the venue and includes Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofers from the ADAPTive line, along with MKD1096 Loudspeakers and UXA4410 Amplifiers. The EAW system, now fully implemented, is designed to provide the power and flexibility the venue needs as it is traditionally one of the busiest arenas in North America.
Leveillé’s introduction to EAW’s new ADAPTive series was during a sold-out concert at the Centre Bell for Tom Petty’s 40th anniversary tour in 2017. “EAW was brought in for the show and the legendary FOH Engineer Robert Scoville was mixing,” said Leveillé. “Scoville is a master behind the console and what we were hearing was absolutely fantastic. The EAW kit was really impressive, especially in terms of its steering capabilities, sound quality and coverage. We knew it would be a great fit for us.”
Once the Leveillé-led project committee, which included design and consulting firm Trizart Alliance, selected EAW, the system was procured through SFM in Canada, and the job of installing the system was given to integration company, Solotech. The project was broken into two phases so that the space could remain operational throughout the upgrade. The first phase involved the installation of 22 MKD1096’s to cover the upper bowl with four additional MKDs to cover the ice, along with seven UXA4410 Amplifiers. The second phase was centered around covering the rest of the bowl, which involved a total of 96 Anna loudspeakers and 36 Otto subwoofers.
