Drive through the parking lot at Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack any time, day or night, and you’re likely to find it packed. With the Philadelphia area’s only 5/8 mile harness racing track and a casino larger than three football fields, Harrah’s draws a steady stream of customers coming to play, eat, drink, and be merry.

With the casino’s close proximity to busy Philadelphia airport, selecting the right sound system took on a critical role. As Jim Esher, Harrah’s Technical Director of Entertainment, explains, “We’re so close to the end of the runway, I can tell you what kind of sunglasses the pilot’s wearing.”

Esher specified Community Professional Loudspeakers across a wide range of the venue, including more than 140 Community R.5 loudspeakers for the main casino and gaming room. The expansive outdoor racetrack area is covered by 15 R1 all-weather loudspeakers, and the multi-tiered, glass-enclosed Clubhouse overlooking the track is served by seven iBOX-Series loudspeakers. A selection of I/O surface-mount loudspeakers covers the Racing Lobby and adjacent sports bar.

One of the casino’s most popular watering holes is Barleque’s, a bustling restaurant and lounge that offers drinks and dining all day and live entertainment in the evenings. Six of Community’s Distributed Design DP6 Pendant Loudspeakers provide background music for the dining area. BSS London BLU80 series audio processors handle signal drive and distribution.

“The system in Barleque’s is designed for flexibility,” explains the casino’s AV manager Nelson Brittin. “It’s configured as two zones – one for the dining area, the other for the bar. Volume and source selection is handled via a local BLU-10 controller. That way, if there are customers who want to hear the game on TVs over the bar, they can do so without disturbing the customers in the dining area.”

The system, installed in-house, is powered by a network of Crown CTs amplifiers, located in multiple rack rooms and networked via an Entertainment Department LAN.

“The combination of the two zones establishes a pleasant and manageable level of background music throughout the entire venue,” says Britten. “Coverage is consistent, with no hot spots and no voids.”