And Then The Stock Market Crashed ....

What is a church to do when the economy spirals into recession halfway through raising funds for a much-needed new PA system? In the case of Holland, Michigan-based Christ Memorial Church (CMC), a member of the Reformed Church of America, the answer was to innovate.

Top: A ring of L’Acoustics 115XT loudspeakers aligned with the front of the stage providing sound reinforcement for the main stage area. This system design was a compromise from a larger system originally planned for the church’s sanctuary. Budget cuts due the recession necessitated the change, but both the church and the systems integrator where pleased with the results. Bottom: Both new PA systems are visible in this photo. Three L’Acoustics 115XT loudspeakers are visible in the foreground. These speakers are part of a new main PA providing sound reinforcement for the main stage/altar area. The four L’Acoustics Kiva line array elements suspended below a Kilo low-frequency section are visible in the background. This larger PA supports the choir and orchestra.

Early last year, Christ Memorial Church (CMC) initially commissioned Parkway Electric & Communications, also in Holland, Mich., to design a discrete loudspeaker setup to provide sound reinforcement for its 180-voice choir and orchestra, both of which perform from the far left side of the sanctuary. After evaluating at a number of systems, Parkway specified a compact LA4-powered system comprised of four Kiva elements arrayed beneath a Kilo low-frequency extension cabinet, with two additional Kivas from L-Acoustics. The new system is located in a down-firing configuration behind the array to provide monitoring for the choir.

This new L’Acoustics system supplemented an older existing PA system that was oriented over the main stage area where the altar is located and the pastor’s sermon originates. That older system was put together piece by piece over the past ten plus years, says Worship Leader, Gary Matthews. As the church’s worship styles evolved, the need for a more robust sound system began to emerge. Matthews says the “Classic” service, with full choir, orchestra and organ, is the most well attended service, but the “Contemporary” services, which has an urban R&B feel, is growing.

Pleased with the new choir/orchestra system, the church began to move forward with plans to replace the main PA for the 1,700-seat fan-shaped room. Original plans included adding two larger L’Acoustics Kiva/Kilo line arrays.

And then the stock market crashed.

That's when Parkway Systems Engineer Jeff VandeHoef offered a somewhat unconventional alternative that better suited the church's actual budget: a flown system of four L-Acoustics' 115XT HiQ coaxial enclosures, which are more traditionally deployed as stage wedges or fill speakers. Two SB118 subs were also installed, as were L’Acoustics LA4 amplified controllers for power and processing. A Yamaha M7CL digital audio mixing console was also recently added.

The new sound system was met with praise. Matthews says, “The congregation noticed an improvement in the sound, but the change was subtle.” Matthews notes that the small visual footprint of new 115XT cabinets as a positive attribute for the CMC congregation. “The new system is not visually overwhelming,” he adds.

Gary Zandstra, Parkway’s sales and marketing manager comments on Matthews first listening experience, " After listening for a while, he told us that he was absolutely astounded with the sound quality and coverage emanating from this tiny coaxial system that had initially been viewed as somewhat of a compromise before it went in."

An additional pleasant surprise to this budget-driven solution was the realization that the acoustic signatures of both the choir system and main system sounded very similar, despite being based on two disparate designs. "Knowing that line source array and coaxial technologies are very different, I was amazed at how remarkably similar the Kiva and 115XT HiQ sounded," notes Zandstra.

"In fact, the chance of us putting a Kiva system in there in the next couple of years went way down because they're really happy with how the 115XT HiQs are performing," adds VandeHoef. "However, the beauty of this design is that if they do eventually decide to install Kiva, the coaxials will simply be repurposed as stage monitors. So this system allowed the church to move forward and install a system that they truly needed, but without the worry that they would be wasting money on equipment that would be used perhaps only for a short time."

The church recently completed a $15 million renovation that included the addition of a video venue called The Gathering Space. There, attendees take in the “Casual Classic” service via video captured and delivered live from the “Classic” service taking place in the main sanctuary. JVC GY DV550 video camera signals route via SDI connections through an Analog Way Di-Ventix seamless switcher located at the front-of-house (FOH) position where an operator selects the camera feeds going to the video venue. A separate Di-Ventix switcher is used to route video content, including sermon notes and song lyrics, but no camera feeds yet, to the screens in the main sanctuary.

The end result is one very satisfied client. According to Matthews, "We are absolutely thrilled with the results. The musical style in our Arts Ministry can greatly vary from a full orchestra and choir performing Haydn's Creation to our Urban Contemporary style of worship—all in the same room—so we needed a system that sounded great and was highly versatile. The setup that Parkway developed and installed has been a 'win' for all that we do."

www.analogway.com
www.christmemorial.org
www.l-acoustics.com
www.parkwayelectric.com
www.yamahaca.com