Bosch enhances World Cup experience for Club Marconi

AUSTRALIA: Sydney’s Club Marconi sports venue is renowned for screening live sporting games, especially during the FIFA World Cup. In time for this year’s tournament the club was fitted with a brand new sound system from Bosch Communications, enabling to it open up its doors 24 hours a day during the competition. The installation was carried out by Saltec Group.

Located in Bossley Park, on the Western outskirts of Sydney, Club Marconi was originally formed in 1956 as a meeting place for the district's Italian community. Despite its origins, the club has since transformed into one of Sydney’s most cosmopolitan clubs, offering sporting, entertaining, educational and social facilities to diverse surrounding communities. It has more than 38,000 members and is situated on 125,000 sq-m of parkland, hosting a stadium and various playing fields.

The project began after John Manduci, IT manager for the club, contacted Saltec’s customer service manager, Scott Masters, to discuss strategies to provided patrons with an enhanced World Cup experience. The decision was taken to install two multi-panel video walls into the Main Lounge and Boutique Bar, however, an upgrade to the sound system was also required to ensure that the anticipated large crowds would be able to hear the in-game commentary. 

As the venue already housed an Electro-Voice Netmax Audio Processor and a Bosch Praesideo system, this was expanded with the inclusion of a DSP expansion module within the Netmax in addition to a TPI-5 touch panel, which communicates directly with the Netmax to allow any changes to be made, such as volume changes or muting. A Praesideo audio expander was also installed to take some additional outputs out of the paging system.

A total of 44 E-V Evid C8.2 8-inch ceiling speakers were installed throughout the Main Lounge and Boutique Bar. An additional six Evid 6.2 surface-mount 6-inch speakers were installed in the Outdoor Terrace. Changes were made to the Netmax configuration program to accommodate the Praesideo Analogue expansion unit. The unit provides a feed from the Praesideo’s Digital Bus to an E-V CPS 4.5 amplifier.

The TPI-5 touch screen was installed behind the main bar, providing the club staff with control over three audio zones. ‘The TPI-5 is such a simple touch panel to configure, it only took a relatively short time to create a nice GUI with faders and push buttons that anyone can walk up to and adjust when required,’ stated Bryan Davidson, the manufacturer’s representative for the project.

‘The install went like clockwork,’ stated Mr Masters. ‘The quality of the product we were working with, and excellent support provided by Bryan Davidson, meant that the greatest challenge we faced during this upgrade was carrying the gear in!’

The patrons at the club have reportedly been ‘awestruck’ at the clarity and power presented by the new configuration. ‘When you align yourself with an industry heavyweight such as Bosch, the results speak for themselves; precision advice, quality, professionalism, proven expertise and specialist support, what more could you ask for?’ concluded Mr Manduci.

www.boschcommunications.com.au
www.clubmarconi.com.au
www.saltec.au