What to know:
- Because concrete, glass, and ice create severe acoustic reflections, integrator Avonlyd utilized the arena's short throw distances and KV2 Audio’s precise directional control to keep audiences in the direct sound field, maximizing speech intelligibility without resorting to excessive volume.
- Avonlyd and KV2 Audio extensively mapped the venue using EASE and SketchUp software to test coverage, delay times, and speaker placement in advance.
- To avoid obstructing the existing central media cube, the team engineered a new steel suspension structure to hang an oval array of eight KV2 VHD4.18 subwoofers around the cube, complemented by 26 ESD12 full-range loudspeakers flown around the rink's perimeter.
Indoor ice hockey arena, Leangen Ishall (Arena) opened in 1977 and is home to Nidaros, one of Norway’s Elite Hockey League teams. The 3,000-capacity venue hosts competition matches, training sessions, and public skating events throughout the year. A recent renovation of the ice arena called for an audio upgrade, one that could deliver precise, intelligible sound across the venue. A new KV2 Audio system was selected to meet the challenge.
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AV integration specialist Avonlyd AS designed and commissioned the upgrade that would fulfill the requirements of the venue. “The arena demanded a sound system capable of delivering exceptional speech intelligibility for announcements, high-quality music playback, and consistent coverage across audience seating areas,” said Edgar Andraa Lien, partner, founder, and sales director at Avonlyd. “Due to the inherently reverberant nature of an ice hockey arena, there were several acoustic challenges that we needed to overcome.”
The performance requirements were set by consulting engineers COWI, whose tender specified two demanding—and potentially conflicting—targets: high sound pressure level and a high Speech Transmission Index. Built from large concrete walls, exposed steelwork, and expansive reflective surfaces of glass and ice, Leangen Arena’s previous sound system struggled to overcome the long reverberation lines.
Avonlyd had been in contact with KV2 Audio from the early stages of this project, during which a core solution was developed by the two companies well in advance of the installation. Lien worked closely with Leo Tanzil, KV2’s technical support director and product specialist for APAC, throughout the design process, refining the EASE models and optimizing the loudspeaker design.
“Loudspeaker positioning, amplifier racks, cable routing, and mounting details were all digitally modeled to verify coverage, delay values, and predicted intelligibility,” Lien explained. “KV2 Audio’s comprehensive SketchUp library proved invaluable as it allowed every loudspeaker to be precisely integrated into the digital venue, giving us detailed data for coverage and intelligibility.”
Fredrik Haugdal and Øyvind Antonsen of COWI met with Avonlyd and KV2 Audio at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) in Barcelona. The consultants placed significant emphasis on simulation data, documentation, and design methodology, and the meeting gave Avonlyd the opportunity to present its EASE models, SketchUp drawings and the technical reasoning behind every major design decision.
“Meeting the consultants face to face at ISE was extremely valuable,” said Lien. “It allowed us to walk through the project together, explain our design philosophy and demonstrate how every engineering decision had been validated. Those discussions helped build confidence—not only in our approach, but in KV2 Audio as the right solution for the venue.”
An eight-piece subwoofer array system from KV2’s VHD Series and twenty-six ESD Series full-range loudspeakers were chosen to deliver power and clarity across the arena. “The original plan was to suspend the subwoofer cluster in the centre of the ice rink for low-frequency reinforcement, but a media cube was already suspended in this position to display scores and live match content to the audience,” he said. The digital EASE model had already allowed them to determine the optimum loudspeaker placement, leading to the installation of a completely new steel suspension structure around the media cube from which eight VHD4.18 subwoofers were deployed in an oval geometry that reflected the layout of the arena. Additionally, 26 ESD12 2-way, passive loudspeakers were flown around the perimeter of the ice rink, with four positioned along each short side and nine along each long side.
Since the installation, Leangen Arena has seen significant audio improvement during ice hockey matches and public skating events. KV2’s VHD and ESD Series deliver smooth, even full-range coverage across the seating areas, ensuring audiences hear all announcements and enjoy pristine music playback during matches, intervals, and public events.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the project was working with people who share the same engineering mindset,” concluded Lien. “KV2’s Leo Tanzil, Sascha Khelifa and Dominik Krampera were always available throughout the design and integration process, and this close collaboration ensured that every aspect of the system was carefully refined, from the earliest EASE model through to final optimization."
