Top 10 AV Mistakes Arenas Make in Atlanta — And How to Avoid Them
Atlanta is a powerhouse for live entertainment, sports, and large-scale events. But even the city's most iconic arenas fall into the same costly AV traps. At Pro AV Services NYC, a KLAV Group company, we've engineered audio, video, and lighting systems for venues like Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, and UBS Arena. Here are the ten mistakes we see most often — and the professional solutions that fix them.
1. Wrong Speaker Placement
Arenas frequently mount speakers based on convenience, not coverage. Dead zones, echo, and uneven SPL ruin the audience experience. Solution: Use acoustic modeling software (EASE, Soundvision) to design coverage zones before a single bracket is installed.
2. Skipping Acoustic Treatment
Hard surfaces, vaulted ceilings, and reflective seating create reverb nightmares. Many Atlanta venues treat acoustics as an afterthought. Solution: Invest in absorption panels, bass traps, and diffusers tuned to the room's RT60 measurements.
3. Buying Consumer Gear Instead of Commercial
Big-box speakers and prosumer mixers cannot survive nightly arena loads. They overheat, distort, and fail mid-event. Solution: Specify commercial-grade brands like d&b audiotechnik, L-Acoustics, Shure, and DiGiCo — gear engineered for 24/7 reliability.
4. Not Planning for Expansion
An AV system designed only for today is obsolete the moment the venue books a bigger act. Solution: Build modular infrastructure with extra DSP channels, fiber backbones, and amp headroom so future growth is plug-and-play.
5. Ignoring Lighting Design
Arenas often install lighting like a parking lot — flat, bright, and uninspired. Poor lighting kills broadcast quality and audience energy. Solution: Layer architectural, performance, and broadcast lighting with DMX-controlled fixtures and proper color temperature management.
6. DIY Installation Failures
Untrained crews mount line arrays incorrectly, mis-terminate cables, and skip rigging certifications. The result: safety hazards and costly rework. Solution: Hire ETCP-certified riggers and licensed AV integrators with insured installation teams.
7. No Maintenance Plan
Most failures don't happen on install day — they happen 18 months later when nobody's been calibrating, cleaning, or firmware-updating the system. Solution: Lock in a quarterly preventative maintenance contract with documented service logs.
8. Wrong Equipment for the Space Size
Under-spec'd systems produce thin, fatiguing sound; over-spec'd systems waste budget and create distortion. Solution: Match SPL targets, throw distance, and audience capacity to the right rig — not what was on sale.
9. Ignoring Atlanta Noise Ordinances
The City of Atlanta enforces strict decibel limits, especially in mixed-use neighborhoods like Midtown, West End, and Buckhead. Violations bring fines and event shutdowns. Solution: Engineer cardioid subwoofer arrays, deploy SPL-limited zones, and integrate real-time dB monitoring with automatic logging.
10. Not Hiring Professionals
The biggest mistake of all: trusting an arena AV build to a general contractor or low-bid vendor. The result is wasted capital and a system that embarrasses the venue. Solution: Hire a specialized AV integrator with arena-scale experience and a verifiable client roster.
Get a Free AV Assessment from KLAV Group
With 20+ years of experience and 1,000+ events produced for clients including MSG, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Hillsong NYC, Facebook, and Maserati, KLAV Group delivers Fortune 500-grade AV engineering. If your Atlanta arena is making any of these mistakes, we can fix them.
Schedule your free, no-obligation AV assessment today. Call 646-280-9522 or visit klavgroup.com to book your consultation.