Once named as one of the “ten best cities for families” by Family Circle magazine, Henderson, TN is a small town that’s just 18 miles northeast of Nashville. While officially part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area, Henderson still retains a small town feel, yet with that kind of proximity to Music City USA, residents there are very attuned to sonic quality — especially as part of their worship experience.
Some History
One part of this story does stem from some humble beginnings. The First Baptist Church of Hendersonville first assembled in the home of Mrs. J. H. Stephens in June 1944, with regular Sunday school meetings held at a nearby Presbyterian church. In 1945, the church purchased some land and the first sanctuary was built in 1947, and over the years, continued to expand as the membership grew from 300 to 3,000, eventually moving into new facilities in 1991 for its current membership of nearly 9,000.
Back to the Present
Replacing a quarter-century old sound system can be an enlightening experience, both literally and figuratively. Having taken its old mono P.A. system as far into the future as it could go, First Baptist Church Hendersonville was ready to provide its growing congregation with an immersive modern worship experience including a state-of-the-art sound system, video and lighting. VUE Audiotechnik loudspeakers and amplifiers were chosen for the upgrade, with installation handled by video and audio consultant/designer/integrator Technical Innovation of Nashville.
VUE loudspeaker arrays were installed on either side of the sanctuary, each consisting of ten al-8 High Output Line Array Systems and three al-8SB Flyable Subwoofer Systems flown in a cardioid configuration, for coverage of the main congregation area in the 2,200-capacity room. Eight VUE al-4 Subcompact Line Array Systems were placed on the floor at the lip of the stage, to serve as front fills. The al-4’s 90° by 10° (HxV) dispersion enables the front rows of the congregation to clearly hear with their low profile doesn’t interfere with sightlines. The new system is powered by six V6-i and two V4-i VUE V Series System Engines.
The FOH Position
A newly installed Soundcraft Vi3000 digital console serves as the system’s front-end, providing the both FOH and monitor mixes. The Vi3000 incorporates an efficient control surface with 36 FaderGlow illuminated fader, 24 mono/stereo buses and four Vistonics II™ touchscreen interfaces with updated 3D graphics. The console also offers onboard Dante and MADI interfacing, built-in Lexicon reverb/delays, dbx compression and more.
The Reaction
“We had an old mono center cluster system and at the time of its installation it was intended for use with a vocal mic and a piano,” says Ben Swaby, the church’s director of communications and information technology. “Since that original system was installed, we’ve grown to the point where we have 170 choir members, a 60-person orchestra and our modern praise band every week. We also host a lot of events, such as the Southern Baptist Convention. We needed an audio system that would help us leap forward. The people at VUE and Technical Innovation were confident enough to say ‘we can do this whole thing by creating a system that produces a stereo image.’ That was one of the biggest selling points. We wanted that stereo image due to how much fuller and richer it would sound.”
System Perks
Balancing the al-8’s enhanced high-frequency reproduction are low- and mid-frequency drivers developed specifically for use in the al-8. Two eight-inch low-frequency transducers feature three-inch voice coils for increased power handling, while a quartet of four-inch drivers with Kevlar cones and Neodymium magnet structures handle the midrange. VUE’s lateral acoustic shade acoustically “moves” the midrange drivers closer together to optimize directivity at their upper operating range for a smooth transition to the HF driver across the entire coverage area.
The antiquated wedge monitors from the old system were replaced with six VUE a-8 Compact Full Range Systems that feature a pentagonal shape appropriate for use in horizontal or vertical orientation. The a-8 is a two-way, passive design with an eight-inch, Neodymium low-frequency driver and a compression driver coupled to a 70° by 55° rotatable horn. Swaby says the a-8s, while being significantly smaller, “blow away the old wedges” the church had used up to this point. Two a-10 loudspeakers were also installed on each side to cover the balcony stairway area.
“Technical Innovation introduced us to VUE,” says Swaby. “There were probably about 25 factors we looked for while we were looking into the systems. We wanted clear, accurate reproduction of sound throughout the sanctuary across a wide frequency range. We compared other systems to the VUE speakers and VUE was consistently the best throughout the entire sanctuary. Our sanctuary has a pretty long response time in terms of echo, and without any treatment VUE produced the best response and intelligibility.”
Swaby adds that a deciding factor when picking the system was the high-frequency compression driver in VUE’s al-8, which employs its proprietary Truextent beryllium diaphragm. Compared to traditional diaphragm materials such as aluminum or titanium, beryllium has a very high stiffness-to-mass ratio. This characteristic is said to dramatically reduce mechanical deformation or “breakup” of the diaphragm under stress and shifts the diaphragm’s resonant frequencies well beyond the audio range, for smoother HF response and increased definition.
Spreading the Message
“A big goal for us is intelligibility,” explains Swaby. “If you come in to worship and what you hear is unpleasant to your ears, then you close up as a person. We don’t want people shutting down and leaving exhausted because the sound is unpleasant. Many people came to me after the install and said ‘I can’t recall the last time I remembered a sermon a week later. I don’t know what you have done but it has been great. I am retaining the word and the gospel.’ As a church, that is what we want to do.”
Swaby says the old system would spill sound onto the stage and “our audio guys were getting frustrated. The VUE system we have now is designed to focus on the audience, and literally hones in on the seating areas. You can actually walk into the aisle, and it’s dead, but then you get into a seat and say, ‘Wow, I can really hear it now.’ The difference between any seat is less than two dB, which is great.”
