When Claremont McKenna College needed clearer, more intelligible audio inside its bustling Roberts Pavilion, Western Audio Visual partnered with Geer Tech to power the upgrade with LEA Professional’s Connect Series amplifiers. With advanced 96kHz DSP, Hi-Z/Lo-Z flexibility, and remote oversight through LEA Cloud, the arena now delivers crisp, consistent sound for every game, event, and campus gathering. 🏀🎧
THE SPEC
⛪ Venue: Claremont McKenna College | Claremont, CA
👷♂️ Integrators: Western Audio Visual & Geer Tech
🔊 Audio Spaces: Roberts Pavilion
🦈 Product Used: Connect Series 704D-ADSP (8) & Connect Series 1504D (2)
Claremont McKenna College
Located near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and one of the seven members of the Claremont Colleges consortium. Home to 1,300 students, The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2025 Best US Colleges rankings rated Claremont McKenna as the 5th-best overall college or university and the best liberal arts college in the nation.
When the college’s gym could no longer adequately serve the college’s expanding varsity programs, the school decided to build a new athletic center — Roberts Pavilion. Groundbreaking took place in Spring 2014, and the building officially opened for recreational use in August 2016. Roberts Pavilion has become a central hub for CMC and the Claremont–Mudd–Scripps athletic community, offering cutting-edge facilities for varsity sports, fitness, physical education, and campus-wide events. However, the audio in the event arena no longer met the student body’s needs, so the college embarked on a project to improve the intelligibility and audio experience in the arena.
“LEA Professional was the obvious choice for this project,” said Alyssa Ishi, Applications Engineer at Geer Tech. “Its flexibility to support unique spaces, combined with the power of the Cloud, made all the difference. The students at Claremont College deserve exceptional sound quality, and that’s exactly what they now experience every day.”
THE INSTALL
Western A/V installed 8 Connect Series 704D-ADSP amplifiers and 2 Connect Series 1504D amplifiers to drive 67 dbTechnologies IS Series loudspeakers around the arena, as well as 12 subwoofers. The 4-channel 704D-ADSP provides 700 watts per channel, while the 4-channel 1504D provides 1500 watts per channel. Both IoT-enabled amplifiers are equipped with 96kHz-capable Dante and AES67 connectivity options, support Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z selectable by channel, and feature Smart Power Bridge technology. In addition, the CS704D-ADSP includes advanced DSP with 96kHz linear phase FIR crossover filters, acoustically transparent look ahead RMS and peak limiters, and 32-bit floating-point DSP with built-in sample rate converters.
The Connect Series delivers an industry-first professional amplifier family to feature cloud connectivity, a revolutionary advancement and a significant benefit for anyone maintaining AV systems. With LEA Cloud, AV companies like Western A/V can remotely control and monitor amplifiers from anywhere, at any time, and with no subscription model or hidden costs. It’s completely free to use.
THE CONCLUSION
Roberts Pavilion stands today as a testament to ambitious planning and multifunctional campus importance — a true “beating heart” for CMC and its broader community. Besides varsity matchups, the main arena is a versatile, configurable event space ideal for intramural or club competitions, campus convocations, speeches, concerts, and more.
“Taming the reverberation in a gym isn’t easy — the high ceilings, hard bleachers, and parquet floors make it challenging for high intelligibility,” said Kevin Laymon, Project Engineer at Western Audio Visual. “That said, the project turned out great, as was working with Geer Tech and LEA Professional. I wish all my interactions with manufacturers were as enjoyable.”
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