St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Cedar Rapids, IA
Audio Logic provided xA-Series loudspeakers from d&b audiotechnik’s White loudspeaker range for St. Paul’s United Methodist Church to address a double challenge: the semi-circular shape of the 97-year-old church’s sanctuary, and the restrictions preventing acoustical treatments from being used at the church.
St. Paul’s, designed by architect Louis Sullivan and W.C. Jones, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The architectural preservation requirements also led Audio Logic to create suspension systems concealed above the ceiling for the three clusters of gear that they installed.
Sullivan, the “father of skyscrapers,” had lofty aspirations for St. Paul’s as well, but his vision went beyond what the church’s congregation could reasonably afford back in 1912.
The restraint exercised back then by architect W.C. Jones, when he re-drew Sullivan’s plans under instruction from the church, meant that two years later, Bishop William Quayle was able to dedicate the freshly completed St Paul’s.
The church building remains true to Sullivan’s clean modernist design, however; sacrificing only his more elaborate ornamentation. In the intervening 97 years before the sound system received its most recent upgrade, just the lightest of touches has been required to keep this building aligned to purpose, not least a new organ in 1946.
The sound quality within the semi-circular sanctuary, unfortunately, has never been ideal. “The church’s acoustic is quite a challenge,” says Wes Nygren, the man responsible for soliciting technological proposals at this most traditional of churches.
The architectural constraints also proved daunting. “We consulted with different people but found we were not able to get proposals from any of them; not one single person we consulted would submit,” Nygren adds.
Nygren and the church elders looked further afield and they found Jason Kartak, who hails from Audio Logic, based some 300 miles away in Bloomington, MN.
Kartak says the conundrum of St Paul’s just the sort of challenge he enjoys. “The room is large, it holds a congregation of 800, so some amplification had always been desirable, but their 1980s-vintage horn-based sound system produced more problems than it solved. In front of the pulpit is a huge parabola, and reflections from the front edge of the balcony were a disaster.”
Audio Logic first submitted plans in late 2009 to apply acoustic treatment to the balcony front and other areas of the sanctuary, which are still under consideration. Meanwhile, Kartak has turned his attention to the audio system, which has brought immediate benefits.
“Historic Building restrictions again apply; we ended up having to create suspension systems concealed above the ceiling for the three clusters we eventually installed. We drew up a design based on d&b audiotechnik’s White range, a new range of loudspeakers that launched when we were maybe 12 months into the project.
“The White loudspeakers, in this instance the xA-Series, provide an elegant solution for a visually sensitive environment such as this, as well as proving economical; fund raising had been underway for some time and, unknown to us, hit budget pretty much as we submitted the proposal,” Kartak adds.
“The three clusters are identical; each has a 10A-D 110° cabinet at the top, and then beneath a pair of 10A 75° boxes flanks another 10A-D. The services here are very much in the traditional fashion, heavily speech based with choir and organ accompaniment to the hymns. However, there is a discreet nod to contemporary worship, but that’s with a small ‘c.’ As such, we have installed three 27A-SUBs, an inherently cardioid cabinet, in an array up in the organ loft.”
“The people at Audio Logic have been very patient with us as we went through the process,” says Nygren, assessing the whole process. “They first suggested an acoustic treatment to the walls; it’s only an inch thick, but we have to adhere to the recommendations of the preservation architect, who found the proposal unacceptable, so we will have to find another way to deal with that.
“But the new audio system equipment is now installed, and very sensitively to the sanctuary’s interior,” Nygren continues. “Audio Logic has been very attentive throughout as far as any problems are concerned, and they have corrected or amended as needed. It has been very pleasant dealing with them; when they first presented their proposal we price checked and they were very competitive. As for the new d&b system, it has definitely improved the situation.”
Iglesia Mundo de Fe, Coppell, TX
Spanish-speaking Iglesia Mundo de Fe, which shares a location with LifeChurch here, installed a QSC Audio KLA Series fixed arcuate active line array system, together with K Series loudspeakers as part of an upgrade to the audio-visual equipment in the church’s sanctuary. The QSC system was purchased from Scott Price at ProAudio.com in Fort Worth, TX and installed by the company’s design/build division, Church Audio Video.
In the main sanctuary at Mundo de Fe, which seats close to 1,500 people, the KLA system is flown in two hangs, each comprising four KLA12 12-inch, two-way, constant enclosure. Six KLA181 18-inch subwoofers are ground-stacked, three per side. Three K12 12-inch, two-way active loudspeakers are installed in a distributed ring providing delay coverage.
The QSC speaker system offers plenty of headroom to the church, which puts the emphasis on music in its services. “They are a modern, rock ‘n’ roll, Hispanic church, and it’s very high energy,” says Jeff McLeod, managing director for Church Audio Video.
“As a church, we are so happy with the QSC K Series Line Array,” says Tim Holland, Pastor of LifeChurch/Mundo de Fe. “In my mind, there is no better quality available on the market at this price point. The sound is powerful yet clear. Our church is very pleased with this QSC product. It rocks!”
As McLeod notes, ProAudio.com’s Price contacted Church Audio Video shortly after making the sale to have the integration division install the QSC system. “Flying the KLA12 speakers took next to no time, he says. “It was real easy. Using the KLA AF12 Array Frames made it effortless.”
New Hope Baptist Church, Atlantic City, NJ
New Hope Baptist Church, which first opened in 1941, needed a new speaker system but was limited to a very tight budget. The contemporary-style house of worship, which seats 250, called upon ACIR Professional (Egg Harbor Township, NJ). ACIR’s Bobby Harper recommended Yamaha DSR112CA powered speakers, to be followed later this year by the installation of DSR118s subs.
Harper said that size, weight, price, and most importantly, performance were the deciding factors to installing the Yamaha DSRs. “Power and points were readily available,” states Harper. “We replaced the old speakers and hung the DSR’s right in front of the new ACIR-installed Eiki LC XL100 5000 lumen projector location so that we would have power readily available.”
“The new Yamaha DSR’s add much needed power, clarity, and enhancement to our worship services,” states John Howard, Jr., director of worship & arts for New Hope Baptist Church. “Our audio capabilities have expanded tenfold with the new Yamaha DSRs.”
The church also has an old analog console that will soon be replaced by a Yamaha LS9-32 digital console. Amplifiers are being phased out in favor of adding additional Yamaha DSRs for monitors.
The DSR-powered speaker series consists of the DSR112, DSR115, DSR215, and DSR118W subwoofer. All two-way models feature class D amplification with 1300W (LF: 850W, HF: 450W) with FIR filter processing (FIR-X Tuning) and D-Contour, a multi-band dynamic processor for consistent clarity at both high and low output levels.
Calvary Baptist Church, New York, NY
Calvary Baptist Church, founded in New York City in 1847 as an independent Baptist church, has been in its current location on Manhattan’s West 57th Street since 1931. Over the years, the church has undergone a series of renovations, and recently upgraded its audio system with the installation of JBL VRX Series Constant Curvature, AE Series Compact and CBT loudspeakers.
Panavid of Pompton Plains, NJ completed the rigging and speaker installation led by client-relations manager Dennis Mitchell. The Calvary Baptist Church system is based around left/right arrays of five JBL VRX932LAP powered loudspeakers per side and two VRX918S 18-inch subwoofers per side.
Complementing the two main arrays are two JBL AC28/95 compact loudspeakers for front fill and eight JBL AC15 ultra-compact loudspeakers placed under the balcony. There are also two JBL CBT 100LA column speakers in the choir area. Walter Loehr of Panavid performed the system tuning and configuration.
“Calvary Baptist Church reached the point where they needed to have professional audio for their sermons and all their events, up to and including concerts,” explained Mitchell. “The church has an exceptional choir and music ministry, led by Colin Fowler, and music is an integral part of the services.
“The system was very much designed as a collaborative effort after numerous conversations with myself, Michael Toombs and Miq Munoz of the Calvary Baptist Church, and Jim Peters of rep firm Sigmet Corporation,” Mitchell noted. “Panavid recommended using JBL VRX932LAP loudspeakers with matching VRX918S subwoofers because they are some of the best sounding speakers available; we’ve been amazed at their sound quality.”
“The new JBL system punches right through to the back of the room,” said Miq Munoz, Calvary Baptist audio engineer. “I used to describe our sanctuary as ‘muddy.’ Not anymore. And low frequency support from the subwoofers is powerful and tight.”
“We also needed speakers that were as unobtrusive as possible, while being able to deliver the large-scale sound quality we needed, and the form factors of the VRX932LAP and VRX918S allow us to do that,” Munoz added. “We used the small AC28/95 and AC15 speakers where space considerations precluded the use of larger speakers. We also chose AKG HM1000 hanging microphones to mic the choir with exceptional results.”
“Before the system was even tweaked, we were excited about the quality of the sound the JBLs were providing to the listening space,” Mitchell continued. “After Walter Loehr used his software, mics and ears to fine-tune the system to the church sanctuary, the sound became even more outstanding. The church is very happy with their decision to install this system and I am thrilled to see their excitement.”
Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Church, Tampa, FL
The sound system at 2,600-capacity Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal M.I. Church was upgraded recently with a new AV setup that includes Aero Series 2 and Avant gear from D.A.S. Audio. Mick Hall, account manager for GC Pro (Guitar Center Professional Division), was involved in the design and installation
“This project was an extensive facility upgrade of a building the church recently purchased,” Hall noted. “Management’s goal was to create an immersive worship experience and, as such, they were looking to acquire a comprehensive setup that integrated audio, lighting, and video for their new sanctuary. For sound, there were numerous conditions that led to the selection of the D.A.S. equipment.
“A high level of speech intelligibility and solid music reproduction characteristics were a huge consideration in the selection of the loudspeakers,” Hall continued. “Services are very upbeat and contemporary. There’s a huge praise band and vocal ensemble that augment the church choir, so music is a key element in the services.
“After auditioning a number of loudspeaker systems, the decision to deploy D.A.S. Audio was made. Simply put, D.A.S. offered superior sound quality, was entirely self-powered (which eliminated the need to house racks of power amplifiers separately and also simplified system cabling), and offered the long throw characteristics essential to properly fill the space. Top this off with the system being a great value and it essentially sold itself.”
The sanctuary’s seating area measures roughly 180 feet in length, is 130 feet wide, and has a ceiling height of 28 feet. To provide consistent coverage throughout the space, 14 D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A powered, two-way line array modules serve as the House mains, flown as seven elements arrays per side over the stage / altar area.
These are augmented by eight Avant 12A self-powered, two-way enclosures. Two individual Avant 12As, each one positioned at the extreme left and right sides of the front area, serve as down-fills, providing coverage for the extreme sides of the space. Another pair of Avant 12A loudspeakers is employed as a center down-fill array for the area immediately in front of the stage.
Additionally, a single Avant 12A is mounted to the rear of each flown Aero 12A loudspeaker cluster and is aimed down at the stage area. These serve as monitors for those on stage. Finally, two additional Avant 12A enclosures provide delay fill to the rear balcony.
Six D.A.S. Audio LX-218A powered subwoofers provide low frequency support. There are three enclosures per side, housed beneath the stage front area, hidden in custom-built, recessed soffits.
Eight D.A.S. SML-12A powered multipurpose monitors are also available for on-stage monitoring. These can be freely positioned depending upon the nature of the activity on stage.
Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal’s audio system installation took place during December, and the church had its grand opening service on New Year’s Eve.
“Our client is ecstatic,” said Hall. “We’ve received numerous compliments about the sound system’s performance.” He also credited D.A.S. Audio of America’s Miami-based staff for its help. “In the months following the installation, our client has given GC Pro numerous referrals. When a project leads to repeat business, that’s as good as it gets!”
Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY
Located near the Eastman School of Music, Rochester’s Third Presbyterian is a traditional church in the Gothic style that recently underwent a 10-month, $5.4 million renovation.
The AV Solutions team — Mickey Ames and lead tech Bryan Dowd, along with consultant Tom Kostusiak, who designed the sound system, and acoustician Robert F. Mahoney — did the installation that included a completely upgraded sanctuary and new sound systems.
Challenges for the project included a modest budget, plus existing acoustics that were very dry and lacked audible delay because of the square shape of the room and thickly carpeted floors. In addition, the church doesn’t have a full time AV staff member, so the system had to run in unattended mix mode most of the time.
Third Church director of music, Peter duBois, who was involved in the install, also wanted the option of running attended services with a sound engineer at front of house mix position and the possibility of staging large-scale, Broadway-style productions like Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar.
The budget for the audio system was in the $180,000 range, and the principal design priorities were to improve the clarity within the church and the ability to provide controllable coverage that kept sound energy away from the ceiling.
Significant acoustical and structural changes were also made to create a more reflective space for acoustic organ and choir, which is largely made up of Eastman students and faculty.
Project installers had to replace the original speaker system, a large central loudspeaker flown at the top of arch above the platform, which also lacked any loudspeaker horns for the balcony. The challenge was placing loudspeakers closer to ear level without creating an eyesore in the traditional sanctuary.
AV Solutions chose two hangs of a dozen Martin OmniLine micro line arrays each, used to create vertically narrow coverage in the main sanctuary, along with two six-box fills for the side naves and four-box delay arrays for three balconies. Martin AQ8 speakers were used for choir fills. All the OmniLine speakers were painted to match the color of the arch and blend with the church aesthetics.
Modeling software helped determine speaker configuration, and consultant Kostusiak credits Martin Audio’s Robert Hofkamp for his role in modeling the space for the speakers.
The system also included a Crestron control system and BSS SoundWeb London to provide expandable control and auto-mixing capabilities for everyday services, along with Shure mics and Whirlwind cabling.
“When people walk into the church now and hear the spoken word and music, we want them to be ‘wowed,’” Kotusiak says. “We want them to say, ‘Yes, that donation I made is worth it because I can hear so much better, and the choir is beautiful!’”
Westwood Lutheran Church, Minneapolis MN
Kirkegaard Associates and Kodet Architectural designed and installed a new Tannoy QFlex loudspeaker array system for Westwood Lutheran Church.
The church, located just outside Minneapolis in St. Louis Park, was built in the early 1960s. Since then it has provided traditional church services to the community complete with a full choir and organ music.
Recently, the leadership at Westwood Lutheran decided to bring contemporary services into their main sanctuary. At the same time, they decided to change the configuration of the sanctuary by moving the altar towards the center of the sanctuary and restructuring the seating to surround the altar, to further reflect a more modern service.
Kirkegaard Associates, a prominent acoustical and system design firm in Chicago, was asked to design the new sound system; Kodet Architectural of Minneapolis was tapped for room layout and design; and Midco A/V, also of Minneapolis, was retained to install the new system.
The sanctuary, a long, rectangular space, was filled with hard reflective surfaces. The new “seating in the round” floor plan provided by Kodet Architectural required a system that could cover all of the seating areas while remaining visually out of sight. In addition, instead of utilizing traditional wooden pews, the new layout incorporated configurable seating, which would afford the church more flexibility for events other than services hosted in the sanctuary.
Richard Laidman, senior consultant at Kirkegaard Associates, headed up the sound system design team. After much evaluation, he chose Tannoy’s Qflex array speaker.
The self-powered Qflex system’s full range beam steering is designed to help sound engineers steer beams away from surfaces that cause reflections, promising exceptional broadband performance for both vocal and musical applications, whether traditional or contemporary.
Laidman specified a pair of Qflex 40 arrays, each loaded with eight 4-inch LF drivers, sixteen 3-inch MF drivers, and sixteen 1-inch HF drivers. The Qflex array system offers a combination of DSP, network control and amplification in a stackable package in a small footprint. The Qflex 40 column is less than 7 feet high and only about 6 inches in width and depth, enabling it to easily “hide” the system within the existing structure of a church.
“Fortunately, there were two pillars located to the left and right of the new altar location, which Kodet used to house the Qflex speakers,” explains Greg Wagner, president of Midco A/V. “The arrays were then concealed by magnetically attached grills that were colored to match the pillars, making the system virtually invisible.”
“One of the reasons the Qflex system is ideal for this space is because it can be digitally steered, minimizing the acoustical issues that can occur because of the reflective surfaces in the room,” adds Wagner. The Westwood Lutheran Church renovation resulted in a modern floor plan and a system that accommodates both traditional and modern services, as well as any other kind of event that the church might wish to host in the sanctuary.
Christ Fellowship Church, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
With a weekly attendance of 16,500 across four campuses, Christ Fellowship Church easily ranks among America’s mega churches. Continually seeking to improve the worship experience for members and promote further growth, the church updated its flagship Palm Beach Gardens worship center earlier this year with a fully L-Acoustics loudspeaker and amplifier system.
Alan Jones of Pro Sound and Video’s Miami location helped facilitate the sale and installation of the first installed L-Acoustics KARAi system. Designed in Soundvision, it features three KARAi arrays flown in an LCR configuration (8+9+8 KARAi) concealed in soffits above the stage of the 2,200-seat octagonal sanctuary. Two four-box SB18i sub arrays, arranged in a cardioid configuration provide focused low-frequency extension for the KARAi mains, and are flown in the two spaces between the KARAi. Two SB28 subs are positioned on the floor beneath each KARAi array.
The church also is using a number of L-Acoustics’ coaxial enclosures, including one 115XT HiQ flown per side to provide extreme left and right downfill, plus seven 8XTi mounted across the front of the stage, below the stage lip, for front fill. The entire loudspeaker complement is powered by a combination of LA8 and LA4 amplified controllers equipped with LA-AES3 (AES/EBU) cards for digital signal distribution.
Danny Dagher, senior audio engineer at Christ Fellowship Gardens, notes that the church essentially drove the specification for the L-Acoustics system. “We invited four respected loudspeaker manufacturers to participate in a comparative listening test to help us discern which system would be the best solution for our room,” Dagher recalls. “So we brought in our entire worship and media staff — there were more than 30 of us critically listening to the shootout — and we unanimously came to the consensus that KARAi was the right box. It wasn’t a difficult choice. In fact, when Todd Mullins, our lead pastor, heard the L-Acoustics system, he said ‘Okay, I want that in my living room!’”
Once the system had been installed and commissioned, Dagher and system tech Travis Groat were even more elated with their decision. “Our previous house system was an exploded mono cluster design, which was a comb-filtering nightmare,” he laughs. “So to go from that to L-Acoustics has been absolutely shocking. The intelligibility of KARAi is breathtakingly clean, but without the fatiguing sterile harshness that one can experience on other PAs.
“I think the greatest thing I can say about this system is that whatever comes through it simply sounds like the source; it’s exactly like listening to a pair of high-end studio reference monitors. The more I use our L-Acoustics rig, and the more I compare it with PAs in other venues, the more I love it.”
World Outreach Church, Murfreesboro, TN
World Outreach Church chose a Midas PRO6 console for its new 2,800-capacity main sanctuary. “The sound quality and navigation are unbeatable,” said Derric West, the church’s technical director.
West demoed several different consoles onsite while the new sanctuary was in its design phase, swapping test consoles in an existing sanctuary every other weekend, but keeping the same mics and PA.
“The console was the only variable,” West said, “and it was any easy choice once we put the PRO6 in.”
The church has Midas Legends already installed in two other sanctuaries. West noted that the PRO6 delivered the same sound quality as its analog predecessors, and added that the ease of use, flexibility and portability offered by the digital PRO6 has really impressed the church.
Although it has a full and diverse calendar of events, the engineers are more often weekend volunteers rather than full-time professionals. Regular services are likely to include around six vocals in addition to the pastor, choir and soloists, plus contemporary bands with drums, bass, guitars, keyboard and additional vocals.
West configures the PRO6 with 80 inputs to facilitate swapping bands and inputs with an internal patch. String and percussion sections are added for special occasions such as Christmas.
West appreciates being able to rehearse for the larger events, store the settings and build on the mix and scenes as he goes without disturbing the setups for weekend services.
For Easter, when the church moves temporarily to Middle Tennessee University’s basketball arena and welcomes some 20,000 attendees, “we will just pack up our PRO6 and take it with us,” West said. “We’ll be able to store all the rehearsals settings and scenes in the weeks prior to Easter, saving hours of set up and sound check once we are set up at the arena.”
While West added that the PRO6’s capacity for scene storage and recall was “a real selling point for us,” he also credited the console for the VCA and POP(ulation) groups, and also “the comps, gates, verb and delay. The internal processing sounds great, plus I love the sound and responsiveness of the channel EQs.”
Along with its own productions, the church hosts a number of concerts by visiting Christian artists throughout the year. “They use our PRO6 if they’re not already on tour with their own console,” said West, “and they’ve all been very happy with it.”
Eastern Star Church, Indianapolis IN
CSD, Inc. of Fort Wayne, IN recently completed a design/build project for the new Northwest Campus of Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis. The church began its history in 1920 with a congregation of 12, and now, three campuses later, has grown to a congregation of over 25,000. The new location was required to fill the need for a larger worship space to accommodate the growing congregation. It also provides a presence for Eastern Star Church on the west side of the city.
“We were chosen as the church’s design/build partner for audio, video and lighting, including systems for the sanctuary as well as significant performance systems in auxiliary spaces such as a chapel, conference rooms, youth and the children’s area,” states Doug Hood, Owner/President, CSD.
A major undertaking, the 3,000-seat contemporary gospel northwest campus features a choir, band, praise team and for most sermons, has 120 members located on the stage. Its new audio system is centered around a NEXO GEO S12 line array consisting of 14 GEO S1210s and 27 GEO S1230s all in white, Yamaha PM5D-RH digital audio console at front of house, and M7CL-48 used for monitors.
“We always stay on top of new products from manufacturers, and since CSD and Eastern Star Church were looking for a high output, yet, small format speaker system that could keep up with the high-energy worship style of the church, we knew the NEXO system would be a perfect fit,” says Hood.
Hood noted that Yamaha consoles were chosen for this location, as was the case with the first two Eastern Star Church campuses, and that console familiarity by church staff members plays a large part. “Another deciding factor for us was the similarity in the M7CL experience as compared to the PM5D. We felt it was important for volunteers to be able to move from monitors to FOH with as little change as possible.
Additional audio system components include a dozen NEXO PS15s and four PS10s, NEXO Alpha Subs, eight 4×4 NXAMPs, and one 4×1 NXAMP. CSD also installed DLP 10K Digital Projectors, a Panasonic PTZ Cam System, and ETC and Leprecon lighting systems. Two Yamaha P3500S amps, two P7000S amps, Aviom Personal Mixing, Aviom Digital Snake, and WorxAudio speakers are used in perimeter rooms.
First Church of the Nazarene, Eugene OR
Powersoft M30D DSP+ETH amplifiers were recently installed at Eugene First Church of the Nazarene to power a new sound reinforcement system designed and installed by AGI Professional, also of Eugene, Oregon.
In the midst of fund-raising efforts to build a new 900-seat church, the leadership at Eugene First Church of the Nazarene was committed to providing the very best worship experience at their current 400-seat church. As a result, the new system was designed for the existing location with the capability of being built out to accommodate the new sanctuary when it is built.
“It was important to the church leaders that the current contemporary services offer high quality audio,” explains Kyle Anderson, president of AGI Professional. “The ability to transition one system to the next was imperative.”
Each side of the new left-right system consists of one Fulcrum Acoustic CX1295 12” coaxial loudspeaker and one Fulcrum Acoustic US212 dual 12” subwoofer powered by a single Powersoft M30D DSP+ETH amplifier.
“The single rack-unit amplifiers offer an amazing amount of power,” notes Anderson. “The clients were blown away. We were able to replace four amplifiers with two single rack-space amps, eliminating ten rack spaces — incredibly efficient on power and space with ample headroom.”
The two-channel M30D DSP+ETH amplifiers provide 900 Watts per channel, offering five input filters for room equalization, two crossovers up to 48 dB per octave, six output filters for speaker tuning, and RMS and peak limiters.
The DSP+ETH units can store four presets and additionally can be controlled with Powersoft’s Armonía Pro Audio Suite software, which provides preset management and remote uploading over a network, as well as control and monitoring.
“Tuning the system was a breeze. The EQ on these units was very nice to work with, very responsive — reminiscent of other high-end EQs on the market,” Anderson adds. “And because the amps are rack-mounted in a closet behind the stage, the ability to monitor and control them from front-of-house was another substantial improvement over the old system.”
“After seeing what the amplifiers have done for the new system the leadership at Eugene First Church of the Nazarene is very enthused to bring more into the new facility when it is built — which speaks volumes for how impressed they are with their performance,” Anderson concludes.
Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, IL
TC Furlong, Inc. recently supplied the Orland Park campus of Parkview Christian Church with a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console from Harman. Jeff Cech, general manager at TC Furlong, helped steer the church toward the Vi6 as part of a digital upgrade. “The learning curve is easy, and one of the best options for the budget,” Cech said.
Barry Luchene, director of audio at the church, confirmed, “I don’t have much experience with different brands, but the network of people I travel and work with love Soundcraft, and suggested I check them out. After extensive research and thought, I agreed with Cech that the Vi6 would fit our needs the best.”
The console is used at front-of-house in the worship center, which seats around 2,000 people, and is used for four services per weekend. The services feature a modern worship style, including a full band.
The Vi6 allows the church to send additional mixes to external systems and to record feeds for online and off-location viewers. “Ninety percent of the work day to day is consistent, using about 40 inputs between the band and speakers. We just needed a console that would be reliable and easy to use, especially for our volunteers that are operating it,” Luchene said. “I love the larger surface space and how you don’t need to scroll through many layers to change settings. Everything is accessible and extremely easy to use. The sound quality is excellent and our expectations have been met perfectly.”
The install of the Vi6 is part of a million-dollar project to renovate the entire Parkview Christian Church facility. “We moved the FOH mix position from the balcony to the main floor. This presented challenges that were fixed easily with the Soundcraft stage boxes. We would not have been able to run the system as previously set up with all the wires and connections,” Luchene explained. “The Vi6 has given us many options and we look forward to completing the full renovation. Overall, everyone who has used the console is extremely happy and able to pick it up with little experience.”
First Baptist Church, Decatur AL
Sometimes an unforeseen delay yields better-than-expected results. Such was the case with First Baptist Church (FBC) in Decatur, Ala., which had planned to replace its aging and inadequate sound system several years ago.
Due to changing priorities and a fragile economy, the church stalled its plans. But the timing proved advantageous, allowing the church to be equipped with Meyer Sound’s MINA line array loudspeaker.
“We could have put in a new system somewhat earlier, but when I heard about MINA, I decided we should wait,” says Doug Collingsworth, director of technical ministries for the church. “I had auditioned some other small line arrays in the meantime, but when we went up to Soundcheck in Nashville to hear MINA, my jaw hit the floor. We all fell in love with it.”
Supplied and installed by ICON Live Technologies of Muscle Shoals, AL, the new system is anchored by two main arrays, each one comprising eight MINA speakers flown under a 500-HP subwoofer. Completing the system are five more MINA for front and under-balcony fill, two UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers for balcony delay, two UPJunior VariO loudspeakers for corner fill, two 650-P subwoofers, and a Galileo loudspeaker management system with a Galileo 616 processor.
“Our worship services are largely traditional,” notes Collingsworth, “but we also have high-energy youth concerts. The only difference is that we roll in our 650-P subs and change the setting in Galileo.”
For monitoring on stage, Collingsworth mounted Meyer Sound MM-4XP self-powered miniature loudspeakers to the Audix MicroBoom microphone stands. Along with the MINA system, ICON Live Technologies also supplied a DiGiCo SD8 console, a Sennheiser 500 Series wireless microphone system, and Shure and Sennheiser wired mics.
