When a Northern Virginia school district needed to modernize audio across more than 100 schools, standardization was key. 🔑
With LEA Connect Series amplifiers at the core, the district rolled out a flexible, high-performance solution designed to deliver clarity, consistency, and control at scale. 🎓🔊
THE SPEC
🎭 Venue: School District in Northern Virginia
👷♂️ Integrators: Artistic Concepts Group, Inc. (ACG)
🔊 Audio Spaces: Across School District
🦈 Products Used: Connect Series 352, Connect Series 354, and Connect Series 702
THE VENUE
The history of the eastern part of Northern Virginia stretches back to the early colonial period of the United States. Established in the mid 1700s, the area was defined by agriculture, trade, and its strategic location along the Potomac River. It remained predominantly rural until the latter part of the 20th century, when suburban development accelerated as the Washington metropolitan area expanded westward, evolving the area from a quiet agricultural region into a major suburban hub while still preserving elements of its historical character.
The area now hosts one of the largest public school systems in the state, serving tens of thousands of students across more than 100 schools, emphasizing academic excellence, equity, and innovation while striving to meet the varied needs of its learners. The school district has navigated challenges posed by rapid population growth, demographic shifts, and evolving educational expectations, continually adapting its policies, facilities, and instructional practices to support student success and community engagement across the region.
“The main challenge was delivering consistent audio across a large-scale venue with varied acoustic spaces — outdoor stands, indoor restaurants, hospitality suites, and public areas,” said Dwaine Schreuder, Head of Broadcast of Prosound. “The system needed to be network-based, reliable, and easy to control from a central location or even remotely. LEA’s growing global reputation as an innovator in networked amplifier technology and remote monitoring made them the obvious choice.”
THE PROJECT
To effectively manage its numerous schools, the school district adopted a phased approach to replacing outdated AV equipment. District staff reached out to Elspeth McCormick, Project Developer at Artistic Concepts Group, Inc. (ACG), to create a comprehensive rollout plan for both replacement and new hardware. The school district was looking for amplifiers that could meet all the needs of a variety of spaces — standardization was a high priority given the number of systems the client needed to support. McCormick thought LEA amplifiers would be a great fit for the school system’s requirements.
“There was a wide variety of spaces to accommodate, ranging from auditoriums with robust audio systems already in place to gyms and cafeterias with little to no equipment,” said McCormick. “LEA has one of the strongest amp lineups in the industry, so it was natural for us to recommend them.”
THE INSTALL
ACG installed a variety of LEA Connect Series amplifiers to address the diverse needs of the spaces within the school district, including multiple Connect Series 352, Connect Series 354, and Connect Series 702 models.
The CS352 and CS354 are 2- and 4-channel amplifiers, respectively, providing 350 watts per channel, while the 2-channel CS702 offers 700 watts per channel. All amplifiers in the Connect Series are professional-grade, IoT-enabled smart amplifiers suitable for installations of any size. They support both Hi-Z (70V or 100V) and Lo-Z, selectable by channel, eliminating the need for separate amplifiers to handle different speaker impedances, while streamlining installations and reducing equipment costs. The Connect Series also includes 96kHz DSP as a standard feature, providing a range of benefits that greatly enhance audio performance and system versatility.
ACG’s technical team used LEA’s free SharkWare software to configure a base profile and push it to all pre-staged LEA amplifiers. SharkWare includes amplifier grouping, offline design, granular user access control levels, locked speaker tunings, and a graphical EQ. SharkWare also allows users to monitor the status of every amplifier connected to the network and the status and performance of individual channels. In addition, the software allows users to view and adjust channel settings, including input settings, signal generator, crossover, equalizer, limiter, and load monitoring, for all LEA Professional Connect Series amplifiers.
The Connect Series also delivers an industry-first professional amplifier family featuring cloud connectivity, a revolutionary advancement, and a significant benefit for anyone maintaining the systems. With LEA Cloud, AV integrators like ACG 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.
School and district staff are pleased with the audio upgrades. Audio clarity is exceptional, and the expanded capabilities in some rooms give instructors greater flexibility in their teaching methods. ⭐
THE CONCLUSION
“The form factor of LEA amplifiers is excellent. We often have limited space in our existing equipment racks, and the LEA amps help us and our clients save valuable space, sometimes even allowing us to avoid purchasing a larger rack,” said McCormick. “Additionally, we really appreciate LEA’s technical support team. They always answer the phone, are very knowledgeable about AV above and beyond LEA products, and we know LEA will provide support to keep our customers’ systems running efficiently. For these reasons and more, we will definitely be using LEA amps for this client in the future, as well as for many others!”
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