Meyer Sound PANTHER Elevates the Game Day Experience at Scotiabank Arena

	"We have to be very careful about where arrays are pointed and where we're putting sound in the building to avoid creating too many reflections. The very well-controlled pattern of the PANTHER cabinets gives us the ability to do that," says Foord.

Scotiabank Arena, one of Canada's leading sports and entertainment venues, has unveiled a major upgrade to its audio experience with a Meyer Sound PANTHER system, designed to offer exceptional clarity and immersive sound.

When Scotiabank Arena kicked off its sonic upgrade in 2022, it had a clear vision for trusted supplier Aligned Vision Group (AV Group) of Toronto. "We pride ourselves on delivering a best-in-class experience for our fans in every part of their journey at Scotiabank Arena," says Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment's director of venue technology, Tyler Rowe. "So a premium audio experience in our venue is critical. Audio is an important aspect of bringing a high-energy experience to our fans in the arena and really draws them to a live experience."

The design was originated by Engineering Harmonics' senior consultant, partner, and head of design Martin Van Dijk, in coordination with Ian Robertson, manager of technical services and industry training specialist at GerrAudio, Meyer Sound's Canadian distributor. The new system supports hockey, basketball, and concerts while offering immersive audio capabilities.

Increasingly, sports venues are investing in immersive entertainment. "You can celebrate here with tens of thousands of other fans that are here to enjoy the moment," Rowe continues. "And a premium audio experience really helps elevate those moments."

"Hockey arenas in general are challenging acoustically," says AV Group partner Andrew Foord. "We have to be very careful about where arrays are pointed and where we're putting sound in the building to avoid creating too many reflections. The very well-controlled pattern of the PANTHER cabinets gives us the ability to do that."

"In basketball, we have extended seating that comes out onto the floor, onto the ice surface," explains Robertson. "In hockey, we don't want that coverage on the ice, but for basketball, it's required. We're using a portion of those speaker arrays to cover the extended audience area for basketball behind the nets on the east and west ends." For concerts, parts of the system are used for reinforcement in areas that present coverage challenges for touring PAs, due to the building's complex geometry.

The new Meyer Sound system includes eight main arrays of 13 PANTHER loudspeakers in a mix of wide and narrow-coverage models, four cardioid arrays of 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements, and 26 fills, including ULTRA X40 compact loudspeakers and UPQ full-size loudspeakers in upper bowl corners, gondola suites, and end zones. Two arrays of nine LEOPARD compact line array loudspeakers serve as ice fills. The entire system is driven by Galileo GALAXY 816 and 408 network platforms and runs on a Milan AVB network, and provides immersive audio capabilities with the Spacemap Go spatial sound design and mixing tool.

"The placement of the corner arrays and the curved geometry of the arena was ideally suited for the PANTHER-Ws at the top to extend the coverage along the uppermost seats," explains Bob McCarthy, Meyer Sound's director of system optimization. "The subwoofers have nine going into the long ends of the arena and then five going into the short ends to give you very uniform coverage." One UPQ directs sound into the mix area.

Josh Dorn-Fehrmann, Meyer Sound's senior technical support specialist, highlights the flexibility of system presets: "The drive system utilizes the GALAXY platform, which allows Scotiabank Arena to change the way it uses this room. It can configure the system for basketball and use certain LEOPARD fills for music and warm-ups. They can turn different speakers on and off depending on whether the hockey boards are in or out. It allows them to use the system in very unique ways, very quickly."

Because the system is self-powered, the team was able to remove 60 amplifiers from the previous install from upper catwalks and redistribute weight more evenly across the grid. "Meyer Sound PANTHER is the most powerful, loudest box that they make right now," says AV Group partner Guy Wallace. "It's also significantly lighter than comparable boxes. So we were able to put a lot of PA into this facility without adding significant weight load...not to mention the pristine sound and excellent coverage we get out of these boxes."

From all accounts, the sonic improvement is a game changer, says Rowe. "What we've heard so far is really exciting. It's an experience that has been missing in this venue for some time. And I'm really thrilled for our engineers and our operators to really have a sense of pride of ownership in being able to put this Meyer Sound product forward."

"We are beyond excited to be a part of this project," says Peter Snelgrove, GerrAudio's VP and director of marketing and operations. "To have this venue, that houses two top-level teams, equipped with a Meyer Sound system that will be heard and experienced by all fans -- we couldn't be prouder or more excited for game day."

Featured video: meyersound.com/video/scotiabank-arena/