Its antiquated monitors might have been sufficient in the early 1970’s, when Ocean County College’s most famous alumnus, Bruce Springsteen, was a student, but administration officials realized the college's gym had seen better days. The Toms River, NJ, two-year college recently upgraded the audio component of its Athletics Hall and Gymnasium, a multi-use facility used for games, practices, classes and public events. Central to this renovation was the installation of Community Professional’s R-Series loudspeakers and iBox subwoofers.
JD Sound and Video was hired to oversee the installation. "The original system, which was installed in the early 1970's, featured some of Community's first hand-molded horns," explains JD Sound's Joe DiSabatino.
The distributed system is comprised of 20 R.5COAX two-way loudspeakers, painted black to blend in with the venue's dark-beamed ceiling. The R.5s are hung in pairs, with one loudspeaker covering a portion of the bleachers and the other directed to the main floor. A pair of iBOX i215LVS subwoofers hung left and right along a central beam provide powerful bottom end. The system is powered by Crown CTS and CDI amplification, with a Rane RPM2 DSP unit providing system drive and processing.
"The room has a folding wall that can divide it in half," says DiSabatino, "and the system can be configured to route any sound source to either side of the system for maximum flexibility."