Oliver Sahm has played a key role in getting everything ready to ensure spectators at the soccer world cup in South Africa hear the name of the goal scorers loud and clear.

The expert in stadium acoustics works at the Bosch subsidiary EVI Audio whose South African distributor Prosound (Pty) Ltd. has equipped nine of the ten world cup stadiums with up-to-date PA technology: “We have supplied more than 1,000 large loudspeakers,” says Sahm. “In Johannesburg alone, Prosound has installed 154 Electro-Voice speakers in the roof of the stadium.” Bosch also sets the tone in the concourses and grounds of the world cup arenas, having installed more than 1,300 additional Dynacord horn loudspeakers.

Every stadium – from Cape Town to Pretoria – was a “completely individual project,” says Sahm: “There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution in this case.” The technicians at the Electro-Voice location in Straubing, Germany, created 3D replicas of most of the stadiums and all their loudspeakers and then worked with engineers of the sales partner in South Africa to make little adjustments here and there until “all the stands received the sound clearly and equally.”

Although Sahm brings considerable experience to bear on such projects – Electro-Voice was, after all, involved in equipping key stadiums with PA systems for the world cup in Germany – he never tires of one thing: “When I hear a system operating loud and clear in a huge stadium for the very first time, I get goosebumps. It's an amazing feeling.” At least until the vuvuzelas, the South African stadium horns, start up. Then the goosebumps make way for the sound of elephants.