Pro audio company JBL’s CBT column speakers make debut in Helsinki sports hall

Run by the physical exercise department of the City of Helsinki Sports Administration, the Latokartano Sports Hall consists of two large areas, which can be combined into a single, larger space. Schools and sports clubs use the space primarily for volleyball, floorball, football and tennis.

The Sports Administration issued the contract for the technical fit-out once the new building superstructure was complete.

Workland designed two transportable systems, which come into play when the partition curtain divides the room into two independent spaces. Four CBT100 enclosures have been installed down the long walls (so that one side runs silent and the other with music). A Crown XLS 602 amplifier feeds two speakers from Channel 1 and two from Channel 2, while the two sections are controlled independently via a Crown mixer.

As part of the CBT (Constant Bandwidth Technology) functionality, these speakers include a switch that selects either long-throw or mid-throw dispersion patterns. Also standard for the series are “Music” and “Voice” settings (the latter featuring a vocal-presence boost) and Dynamic SonicGuard overload protection circuitry, which combats distortion issues.