Benedictine Military School, a unique all-male, Catholic, college preparatory day school for grades 9-12 in Savannah, Georgia, has a rich history. Established in 1902 as Benedictine College, it was organized on a military basis in the Southern military tradition of VMI and The Citadel. The school, which opened with 21 Cadets, was an immediate success. The “BC” Cadets were highly visible in the community, often acting as a color guard or escort for civic occasions as well as marching annually in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, an enduring tradition begun in 1903 that continues to this day.
In 1936, Benedictine became the nation’s first “day” military school to become an honor unit of distinction, prompting the monks to change the school’s name to Benedictine Military School. The existing Modernist campus, completed in 1964, was designed to reflect the military heritage of the then-60-year-old school and uphold the monastic traditions of the nearly 1500-year-old Order of St. Benedict. Today, Benedictine Military School aims to develop well-rounded young men prepared for the challenges of college and beyond. The school instills values of faith, leadership, and academic excellence and emphasizes a sense of community and brotherhood among its students. The school recently upgraded the audio system in their multi-purpose gymnasium by deploying amplifiers from LEA Professional.
The John A. McCarthy, Jr. Gymnasium is an important facility for the school’s athletic programs and events. It is also a focal point for fostering school spirit and community engagement. It hosts events that bring together students, faculty, parents, and alumni, reinforcing the sense of camaraderie and pride within the Benedictine Military School community. Over the years, the gym has undergone renovations and upgrades to maintain modern standards and improve the experience for athletes and spectators. Enhancements have included updated flooring, improved lighting, and better seating arrangements. Sound intelligibility was not adequate for many of the activities taking place in the gym, so staff reached out to Daniel Hunt, Director of Business Development of JSC Systems, to design and deploy an AV system with better intelligibility.
“Gyms are never built with acoustics in mind. Everything in there is a hard surface, so they’re basically echo chambers,” said Hunt. “Intelligibility is usually pretty low, so we decided to implement LEA amplifiers with a new speaker layout for better directivity.”
The system utilized Crestron DSPs — one courtside to interface with event mics and another in the sound booth rack. Danley Sound Labs subwoofers were flown in the center of the gym, and multipurpose horns were mounted around the court. Hunt’s team also installed acoustic treatments to further reduce reverberation.
Hunt deployed multiple Connect Series 704 amplifiers to power the subwoofers and horns installed around the gymnasium. The IoT-enabled 4-channel 704 provides 700 watts per channel, supports Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel, and features Smart Power Bridge technology. With three ways to connect, the school can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the center’s Wi-Fi, or connect to the local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.
“I really like LEA amplifiers because of the smart bridging feature,” exclaimed Hunt. “In Benedictine’s case, powering a subwoofer with 1400 watts and having three remaining channels for loudspeakers was definitely a plus.”
The Connect Series delivers an industry-first professional amplifier family to feature cloud connectivity, a revolutionary advancement and a significant benefit for anyone maintaining the systems. With LEA Cloud, AV teams can remotely control and monitor the amplifiers regardless of the location or time of day. Whether from within the planetarium or the mainland, controlling the Connect Series amplifiers from afar helps teams work more efficiently, reducing travel and saving time and money.
“A superior audio system is essential in a gym for creating an engaging atmosphere,” said Brian Pickowitz, VP of Marketing for LEA Professional. “We’re happy we could contribute to improving the students’ experiences at Benedictine.”
