The Haskell Company, Jacksonville, FL, served as the general contractor for the project. Bill Kilgannon, Construction Manager for The Haskell Company, said, “the overall construction part of the project had a six-month time frame for completion, while the entire sound system had to be installed in only three months from wiring to testing.” The install had to be completed in this time frame to be ready for an upcoming Daytona race. The project involved installing 423 speakers, more than 27 miles of wiring, amplifiers, and related components.
Kilgannon explained that each of the 64 Apogee Fixed Installation Series Loudspeakers (AFI-4) enables visitors to hear announcements pre-show and post-show. These speakers have 200 watts of continuous power or up to 800 watts of peak power. The speakers aren’t only about volume, they provide clear, accurate sound. Features such as custom magnetic fluid-cooled drivers in 15-ply birch housings along with other carefully designed monitoring and control technologies contribute to high intelligibility. The combination of 17 Apogee CA-Series Professional Amplifiers and powerful Apogee speakers results in lifelike sound at super high volume. The advanced clip eliminator in these amplifiers reduces distortion to less than 0.01 percent. Known for their reliability, the design of these amplifiers permits reduced heat output. In addition, special low equivalent series resistance capacitors and uniformly-wound toroidal transformers contribute to the power supply robustness in the Apogee amplifiers.
The 109 Bogen High-Fidelity Ceiling Speakers (HFCS1) can be found in seven of the nine zones. They are used in the Victory Lane Club, Fitness, Communication Center, Media Center, Busch, Fire Safety, and Nextel areas. Of these, the Communication and Media Center, Fire Safety, Fitness, and Nextel are indoors while the Victory Lane Club has some speakers indoors and others outdoors. Their large steel back cans and dual front exit ports allow for deep bass response of music and speech. Installers appreciate how quick and easy it is to install these speakers because wiring for them is terminated at a four-screw snap-lock input connector with two positive and two negative terminals to accommodate daisy chaining of speakers. These speakers also have a front mounted power tap selector. “The High Fidelity Ceiling Speakers were selected for this application for the Victory Lane area to enable fans to hear live music, background music, and presentations,” said Fenstermacher.
To supply the required power for the Fan Zone, Daytona Speedway uses four Apogee CA-Series Professional Amplifiers (CA-8000). “There’s enough power in the Fan Zone and sometimes fans ask us to turn down the volume,” said Fenstermacher. These amplifiers contribute to the high intelligibility that gives fans the sound they desire.
