Colombia. The Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, in Barranquilla, Colombia, holds 47,000 enthusiastic soccer fans for each of the home matches of the Atlético Junior soccer team.
Known colloquially as the Metro Stadium, the facility opened in 1986 to host regional and international sporting events in Barranquilla, Colombia's third largest city. The Metro Stadium remains the largest venue in Colombia to this day.
With the popularity of the stadium, management dedicated many years of the venue's life to needing to rent audio equipment for major events, a cumbersome process that cost the stadium time and money. To remedy this, Metro Stadium management collaborated with local Barranquilla-based AV system integrator SchallerTech and audio manufacturer Renkus-Heinz to upgrade the stadium's sound system.
Greg Schaller, owner and systems engineer at Schaller Tech, worked closely with the stadium to design and install a state-of-the-art sound system that met the requirements of the location.
"Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez worked to update and remodel the stadium with the goal of hosting Copa Sudamericana events," Schaller said. "To do so, a good sound system well designed and installed is a great necessity. As a South American distributor of Renkus-Heinz, we knew that if we showed the technology to the stadium team, they would be impressed with the quality and intelligibility of the sound."
In early 2020, the SchallerTech team used Ease Acoustic Simulation software to model the stadium and begin the design process; however, the COVID-19 pandemic put the stadium's audio update on hold. Upon returning to the project, Schaller and his team installed more than 80 Renkus-Heinz TX151, TX82 and TX62 climate-controlled speakers.
Renkus-Heinz T-Series speakers are a two-way speaker system that uses advanced technology and application-based engineering to deliver excellent, realistic live sound. State-of-the-art driver technology and unique innovations, such as Complex Conic speakers, deliver music with natural sound and intelligible speech. Versatile cabinet designs, combined with a wide range of mounting options and associated hardware, provide unrestricted flexibility for portable and installed applications.
"We are very passionate about sound and Renkus-Heinz offers excellent sound quality and coverage," Schaller said. "The TX series helps us achieve a balanced sound for the entire stadium. There are speakers installed in the upper and lower rings of the stadium, and we can provide constant coverage to every seat, and they sound great!"
Schaller says the stadium opted for passive, unpowered versions of the TX series speakers to reduce weight, as some speakers are mounted at a height of up to 20 meters. A set of four amplifier racks with high-power amplifiers from Linea Research are fixed on the roof of the stadium and connected via fiber and a Dante audio network.
"The stadium hosted its first match in September 2021 and the Renkus-Heinz audio system was the sound solution," Schaller said. "Some of our team members were there and we received excellent feedback from stadium management, spectators, event sponsors and other suppliers. Everyone was very happy with the sound."
