Bell County Expo Center Enhances Sound with Community Pro Loudspeakers

Located deep in the heart of central Texas, Belton's Bell County Expo Center is a domed multi-purpose arena that is home to the CenTex Barracudas indoor football team. The 6,559-seat regional event center also hosts the annual Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Central Texas State Fair, as well as more than 200 community events each year.

At just over 100,000 sq. ft. the main Exposition Building is the largest of its kind in Central Texas. The expansive complex also includes the main arena, used for trade shows and expositions, a special events room that accommodates up to 250 guests, and an assembly hall where as many as 1,200 people can gather.

With a wide range of events throughout the year, the Expo Center recently decided to revamp their audio system. The original sound system, based around Community Professional Loudspeakers' RS880 three-way systems, was still in great shape, but supporting the high-level music used in today's concerts and events called for a boost in sound pressure levels.

The upgraded system, designed by Christopher "Topper" Sowden, of Fort Worth, based consultants Sowden Associates and installed by Electro Acoustics of Fort Worth -- the same companies that designed and installed the original system, respectively, some 20 years earlier -- comprises a series of Community M4 drivers in PC494 and PC1594M horns. Low frequencies are pumped up by four Community R6 bass horns, and the system is powered by QSC PL380 amplification.

John Dungan, assistant director at Bell County Expo Center explains, "Sowden & Associates could have used a line-array system for the design, but line arrays aren't the ideal choice for every application. We decided to go with Community's horn-loaded system because we needed a powerful, durable system to handle the high audio output at our events."

The precision molding process used in the construction of Community's mid and high frequency fiberglass horns provides consistent and predictable pattern control. The horns are weather resistant, an important factor at the Expo Center where dust and dirt are frequently kicked up by rodeos, livestock expositions and monster truck rallies.

"We were confident the new system would sound good, based on our existing Community system, but it's exceeded even our own high expectations," says Dungan.