Jim Esher, Harrah's technical manager of entertainment, oversaw the design of the venue's audio and video systems. As Esher explains, the casino's close proximity to one of the nation's busiest airports presented its own unique challenges. "We're so close to the end of the runway, I can look up and tell you what kind of sunglasses the pilot's wearing," he says. "Needless to say, one of our biggest issues was to overcome the noise factor."
Esher specified 15 Community R1-Series full-range two-way loudspeakers to cover the outdoor racetrack area. "The R-Series speakers really made sense for this project," Esher says. "Nobody comes close to Community for that type of wide-area, high-SPL coverage. If you look at the vast majority of football and baseball stadiums, NASCAR racetracks and sporting arenas, Community is really the de facto loudspeaker for that application. And they're the best equipped to deal with our Pennsylvania winters as well."
The enclosed Clubhouse area presented another set of challenges. The four-tiered seating area overlooks the track, replete with grandstand seating and a large glass front. "It's an open area with a high ceiling, and there's seating on several levels," Esher explains. "It's pretty much impossible to control the dispersion across the different levels, so ceiling speakers were out of the question." Seven Community IHP-Series trapezoidal two-way boxes cover the area, all mounted at different levels on the massive columns supporting the structure. Adjacent to the Clubhouse, the Racing Lobby and sports bar areas are served by Community I/O surface mount speakers, with 14 pairs of I/O8 eight-inch two-way systems and six pairs of I/O5 five-inch two-way models.
Inside the main casino, flexibility was key. "Casinos tend to change things around every so often," observes Esher. "One month you'll have a slot machine area, the next it might become part of a restaurant. So I'm a real proponent of zoned audio, which gives us the flexibility to regroup and restructure the signal distribution easily."
Twelve BSS London BLU80 series audio processors handle signal drive and distribution, with more than 140 R.5 loudspeakers covering the main casino and gaming area, and 550 Community Cloud Series ceiling speakers handling the simulcast area, as well as restaurants, ballrooms and other non-gaming areas. All systems are powered by Crown CTs-Series amplification.
(Jim Evans)
