Powersoft Scores Point, Set And Match At Arena Sofia

Recently inaugurated, the brand-new Arena Sofia is Europe’s latest and Bulgaria's largest arena. Designed and constructed with mainly sports events in mind, the venue is well able to host exhibitions and concerts as well. The first larger show will be featuring Jean Michel Jarre this October, whereas later the tennis world will be watching the prestigious 2012 WTA Tournament of Champions at Arena Sofia.

Due to its flexible design, which allows different layouts depending on purpose, the main hall including field of play fits anywhere from 3,000 to 18,000 attendants. Covering five stories in height, the multi-purpose venue also comprises a training area, a fitness centre, dressing rooms, a spa, a restaurant, a press conference room and an underground parking lot for 1,000 cars.

Bulgarian audio specialist ProAudio Ltd has designed and installed the audio system. The setup for the main hall consists of 40 Community R2 loudspeakers and 12 i215LVS subs, providing full-range coverage for both the stands and the field of play in a distributed system layout with all speakers suspended from the roof structure. Signal mix, processing and routing is done by a central TOA D-2000 digital mixing system in a 32in/32out configuration.

ProAudio Ltd then decided to use Powersoft M Series amplifiers for driving the loudspeaker system. The M50Q, a four-channel model providing four 1,250 watts at four ohms, was the obvious choice as it combines multiple channels with ample power in the most compact single rack space format, making it a terrific value in both usability and cost. Accordingly, only 13 M50Q units were required for running the entire main system.

Additionally, the green-conscious design of Powersoft amplifiers grants outstanding operational efficiency. “Efficiency has been a key factor when we opted for Powersoft amplifiers during system design,” said Stanislav Petrov, Managing Director of ProAudio Ltd.

”Their low power consumption is definitely cost-saving in the long run, particularly for a venue like the Arena Sofia.”

He continued: “At the end of the day you don’t find many 1RU amps out there that draw less current from the same output, generating less heat and saving the client money, while still retaining outstanding sound quality. It was a pretty easy decision to make.”

"Succeeding in such a prestigious yet challenging project was crucial for us", concluded Petrov, "and I am proud to say that both we and the client are delighted with the end result."

The venue also sets out to be the first Bulgarian sporting ground to sell naming rights as it signed a six-year deal with Bulgarian insurance company Armeec, to become Arena Armeec Sofia.

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