Yokohama (Japan) – Yokohama Stadium selects RCF as its sound reinforcement system for both sports and entertainment events. The stadium is one of the venues of the Summer Olympics and one of the most important sports facilities in Japan. It is, in fact, the largest venue of its kind in the Kantō, primarily used for baseball- as the home field of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. International artists have also been known to perform at the Stadium, including David Bowie, Santana, Madonna, and Michael Jackson.
Yokohama Stadium started in 1876 as common ground for cricket competitions. In 1929, a baseball stadium with 15,000 seats to host the country’s most popular participatory and spectator sport was built onsite. Then in 1978, the stadium was rebuilt as the first multi-purpose stadium in Japan, officially being named Yokohama Stadium.
After a complete renovation began in 2018, Yokohama Stadium was selected as a venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which were then postponed to the following year to better manage the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, the stadium was used as the official venue for the baseball games held for the Summer Olympics. Developers at Yokohama Stadium added additional seating with the number of seats increased to just over 34,000.
The RCF speaker system serves as a PAGA system (public address and general alarm system). The main systems, consisting of two arrays of four TTL 33-WP each, are placed on six light poles around the Stadium (a total of 48 speakers). Fly bars are fixed to custom-built titanium brackets. Yokohama Stadium has expanded seating on each side, with 4 x P4228 placed on the top edge of the left wing and 5 x units on the right wing. Additionally, 9 x P3108 and 1 x P4228 are placed in under-balcony locations to cover the seats behind the plate, with additional P2110-T and P8015-S units are installed to cover the dugout.
“In the renovation of Yokohama Stadium, our mission was to achieve both excellent quality of entertainment as a ballpark and clarity as a broadcasting facility,” says Taketoshi Kobayashi (Lead engineer of Onkyo Tokki).
“TTL 33-WP and other RCF loudspeakers were essential to maintain clarity of the sound without losing the volume of the lower part of the spectrum, contrary to the situation where the volume in the low frequency is lost due to prioritizing clarity, which is often seen in outdoor facilities. I was impressed by RCF’s intelligibility. The system is perfect for the size and shape of the facility with its skillful design, easy tuning of the speaker, orientation, and level balance. In particular, sound from the opposite side of the field is well controlled. Currently, there are lots of sports facilities with line arrays installed. Still, the sound is very well controlled here, and this also contributes to the improvement of clarity and sound quality. The support of the RCF team during the process was excellent. Quick response to changes in rigging points and model selection was an essential factor in the success of this project.”
