Major League Basketball Venue Enhancement: Significant Audio Upgrade at Big 12's Largest Arena Courtesy of L-Acoustics
The Marriott Center, a prominent basketball arena at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, has recently developed a state-of-the-art audio system to enhance the spectator experience. This venue, which boasts the largest seating capacity in the Big 12 Conference and the eighth-largest on-campus capacity in the United States, now accommodates nearly 18,000 fans.
Dating back over a decade, the Marriott Center initially installed a Kara PA system from L-Acoustics, providing an elevated sonic dimension for the BYU Cougars men's and women's basketball teams that call the venue home. More recently, in 2024, the Marriott Center expanded its partnership with L-Acoustics, upgrading to the latest K2 system in preparation for the new college hoops season.
Bryce Stettler, AV system designer and project engineer at Poll Sound – a Salt Lake City-based integration firm responsible for both projects – explained the reasoning behind the upgrade. "The venue already sounded great, but BYU wanted it to sound even bigger," Stettler said. The university was familiar with L-Acoustics sound quality, given the prior Kara system, as well as a dV-DOSC system installed at BYU's 1,200-seat DeJong Concert Hall in 2009.
Designed primarily by Brad Streeter, director of audiovisual services at BYU's Office of Information Technology, in consultation with L-Acoustics engineers, the new system was installed by Poll Sound. This marked the completion of commissioning, tuning, and calibration processes. Streeter emphasized that the primary motivation for upgrading to the K2 system was to achieve greater headroom, especially for sporting events, to ensure the system wouldn't overdrive even amid the noise of the BYU Cougars' enthusiastic student section.
The installation includes eight arrays of nine K2 speakers, addressing the arena's lower bowl seating below the concourse, powered by LA12X amplified controllers. The seating above the concourse is covered by 16 delayed arrays of one Kilo accompanied by five Kiva speakers, each powered by upgraded LA4X amplifiers. Two arrays of six repurposed Kara enclosures, flown adjacent to the central scoreboard, cover the court floor. The system is rounded out by a pair of P1 processors, feeding signals to the amps and speakers over the Milan-AVB protocol.
The updated system's low-frequency performance has been lauded, with the K2's ability to reach 35 Hz significantly enhancing the basketball arena's bass-heavy culture. K2's full-range capabilities, Stettler noted, have been particularly helpful in maintaining proper low-frequency reinforcement throughout the Marriott Center.
Although most of the Kara speakers from the original system have been repurposed on campus, the delay speakers and subwoofers from the earlier installation remain in place. When asked about the Marriott Center's significance in modern college sports, Stettler observed, "We've spent a lot of time educating our bigger university clients regarding the difference in premium systems like L-Acoustics. They're becoming increasingly aware of the importance of sound quality, which aligns with the expectations for professional sound reinforcement in major arenas."
The Brigham Young University Marriott Center's focus on superior sound reinforces the trend of college sports venues embracing entertainment as an essential aspect of sports experiences. Moreover, the recent upgrade to L-Acoustics' K2 system exemplifies advances in technology designed for large-scale, multipurpose facilities, such as the Marriott Center, catering to diverse events, including concerts, lectures, and commencement ceremonies.
- The upgrade to L-Acoustics' K2 system at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Marriott Center, a prominent sports venue, was primarily driven by the need for greater headroom, especially for sporting events, to handle the noise of the BYU Cougars' enthusiastic student section.
- The Marriott Center's decision to expand its partnership with L-Acoustics reflects the growing recognition in college sports of the importance of high-quality sound, aligning with the expectations for professional sound reinforcement in major arenas.
- The latest K2 system installed at the Marriott Center, designed for large-scale, multipurpose facilities, demonstrates the evolution of technology in data-and-cloud-computing, enhancing the spectator experience not just for sports-betting and basketball events, but also for concerts, lectures, and commencement ceremonies.
