We had originally quoted this pool approximately three years ago, and then re-quoted it last fall. There was no movement with respect to replacing the old sound system until March of 2018, when we were advised that the project was moving forward.
The old system had a number of issues. It had been cobbled together over the years, with one amplifier in the lobby feeding two small 4” speakers in the pool area, along with the lobby and change room speakers. A second amplifier hidden away in the ceiling powered two more 4” speaker for aquacize classes. A third separate system powered the fitness room speakers. There was no centralized paging microphone, no Bluetooth receiver anywhere, and the small 4” speakers couldn’t possibly cover the pool with intelligible sound. Moreover, the chlorine atmosphere was wreaking havoc with the amplifiers and audio input connectors.
We had quoted a centralized QSC digital signal processor system to be located in the guard room, with a touch screen and a paging mic at the front desk. Multiple music sources were available, including three Bluetooth receivers in the guard room, pool deck and fitness room, along with a cable music box, assignable via touch screen to any or all zones.
The aquatic center was separated into four zones – the shallow and deep end speakers, the fitness room, and the lobby and change rooms. The paging mic could page into each area individually, or an all -page button on the touch screen would allow for paging everywhere.
We utilized two Factor music and mic input plates on the pool deck and in the fitness room, so that staff could wirelessly connect music on their phones without those annoying patch cords that get lost or broken. A volume control on the Factor plate in the fitness room allows clients to turn the in-house background music up or down, or off, if the patron chooses to listen to their own music.
We added a dual headset Evo wireless mic system for use either in the fitness room or on the pool deck. The touch screen at the front desk allows staff to select which zone the wireless mic is being used in. In the case of a well attended swim meet, we can tie the lobby speakers to the pool system, so that overflow people standing in the lobby can hear announcements from the pool.
Five new 8” 2 way Community R.35 speakers are strategically located in the natatorium. We used the comprehensive signal processing of the QSC Core 110f system to fine tune the speakers to the pool for best sound quality. We placed volume limiters on the outputs of the processing so that the staff or public are never able to turn the system up to 11.
The entire sound system is tied to their in house computer networking system, so that the computer in the guard room can also control the volume levels of each zone, and the new Wifi network that we installed allows the IPad in the guard room to be used anywhere in the building. This is especially useful on the pool deck, as music is also stored on the IPad, so instructors can select the music while adjusting volume levels anywhere on the deck.