Fenway Park Boosts its EAW Sound System

Sports teams within a short drive of our headquarters in Whitinsville, Massachusetts include four legendary professional franchises: The New England Patriots, The Boston Celtics, The Boston Bruins and The Boston Red Sox. These four championship teams have remarkable history and of course, it is a point of pride that each of these four storied franchises all deploy EAW loudspeakers on their home turf.

At Fenway Park, one the nation’s most iconic and oldest continuous operating sports venues, EAW has long been a central part of the game day festivities. From KF900s installed there in the late-90s to the latest upgrade in 2012, we are proud of our long history at Fenway.

Most recently, the main grandstand and extended bleachers were covered by groupings of EAW MK Series and AX Series loudspeakers; various luxury clubs and seating areas are served by EAW CIS400 and CIS300 ceiling loudspeakers. This upgrade improved the most recent sound system makeover at the park, designed by WJHW and installed by Boston Light & Sound in 2006.

“The distributed sound system installation improved coverage and intelligibility for audio in the seating areas, which makes a game more exciting for fans,” explains Mark Graham, associate at WJHW. However, it also minimized how much sound was on the field itself. That situation was rectified with a single EAW KF740 line-array module installed to cover the area around home plate for pre-game activities.

Pre-game activities often require an emcee with a microphone in the area behind home plate, musical guests and of course, batting practice a few hours before the game. To improve on-field sound, a number of options for monitors were considered, from mounting loudspeakers to the low wall in front of the stands, to pole-mounting the monitor system.

Managing sightline issues and the need for security personnel to be on the field, the solution was a single KF740 mounted directly beneath the camera position in the mezzanine behind home plate. This covers home plate so well that the system is also used for batting practice.

Boston Red Sox fans, renowned for their passion and knowledge of the game, have seen numerous improvements to the game experience over the last few years. But, few have made as big an impact as the expanded use of EAW loudspeakers throughout this hallowed ballpark, made right here in Red Sox Nation.