Bath Rugby was established in 1865 and is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.
The Aviva Premiership side and past European Cup winners play at the Recreation Ground, a 12,200-capacity stadium in the centre of the historic city of Bath.
The ground is situated next to the River Avon and during the summer months is also used for cricket matches.
Having impressed Bath Rugby with previous sports stadia projects, Vaughan Sound was appointed to supply and install a new sound and public address system to the rugby ground.
The club’s Managing Director, Jeremy Wilton emphasised the need for a cost-efficient solution that could be easily used for general and emergency broadcast announcements.
For broadcast and public address, the team opted for a TOA VX-2000 Voice Evacuation System.
Zoned to accommodate the different areas of the stadium including the clubhouse, terraces and stands, the model was specified for its reliability, satisfaction with British Standards (BS 5839 Part 8) and capability to relay music and speech for matchday entertainment.
The TOA system was accompanied by a combination of Community R.25 and R.5 loudspeakers that were evenly installed throughout the sports ground and around the pitch perimeter.
These professional loudspeakers are acknowledged as a stadium staple by the industry and offer pristine audio performance, intelligibility and excellent dispersion.
During the initial site inspection, Vaughan Sound immediately recognised the opportunity to refurbish and reuse a considerable amount of Bath Rugby’s original audio system.
Accordingly, a range of the ground’s existing loudspeakers were saved and incorporated into the new sound scheme.
Effectively making the project budget go further, these select speakers were designated to the stadium’s four access points – the William Street, Sports Centre, Riverside and South gates – to provide additional audio coverage.
Through the impressive installation, which was coordinated and implemented around the club’s matchday fixtures, Vaughan Sound was successfully able to centralise the control of the equipment to a single rack.
The system also provides for the usual pre-match entertainment and integrates with the video screen.
The project was completed with further installations in the club’s hospitality and function rooms.
Delivering maximum value for the client, Vaughan Sound equipped Bath Rugby with a highly efficient and effective technical solution.
Since project completion, the new public address system has been utilised by staff for music and commentary during matches and has been enjoyed by thousands of sports fans.
Vaughan Sound now provides ongoing service and maintenance support to the rugby stadium.
“A big project for the [new] season was to have a complete new PA system installed at the Recreation Ground, which was no easy feat.
Vaughan Sound was a tremendous help from the planning to the final installation.
All members of the crew were very helpful and got on with the task at hand in a professional manner.”
– Karen Gill (Operations Assistant, Bath Rugby)
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