For years, leaders at Church Unlimited have wanted to create powerful worship experiences that resonate with every person in the room. But as its Corpus Christi campus grew, they found they were working against the limits of a 20-year-old PA system that could no longer deliver the clarity, consistency or impact needed for modern worship. They hired Messenger AVL, a Georgia-based design-build integrator specializing in worship spaces, to help solve the problems.
Thinking traditional systems would struggle to meet the church’s goals without compromising aesthetics, budget or coverage, Messenger AVL recommended an Eastern Acoustic Works’ (EAW) Adaptive sound system.
“Church Unlimited wanted to create a feeling of width and immersion,” says Parker Gann, Senior Systems Engineer.at Messenger AVL. “They had a fixed budget and specific sonic goals. EAW’s Adaptive series gave us the performance and flexibility we needed without compromises.”
To bring the vision to life, Messenger AVL designed a left-center-right configuration with four Anna loudspeakers as mains, four Anya loudspeakers providing out fill and two AC6 column loudspeakers adding additional horizontal coverage. For low-frequency reinforcement, the system features 12 SBX218 subwoofers, six flown and six on the ground, meeting the church pastor’s request for musical, full-range bass throughout the room.
“I was floored at what the AC6s can do and the amount of space they can cover,” says Gann. “The system has so much headroom and power while barely touching the boxes. It’s incredible how the PA just disappears above the trim height of the production lighting. The church loves the clean aesthetic that EAW offers.”
He says EAW’s Adaptive technology allowed Messenger AVL to fine-tune the coverage throughout the entire room, ensuring intelligibility and balance even in difficult seating areas. Bann says the result is a system that disappears into the architecture while delivering crystal-clear sound everywhere.
“Even when seated far off to the sides, the intelligibility and sonic consistency are remarkable,” adds Gann. “We were blown away by the low-end performance of the Anna and Anya boxes. The result is an extremely engaging experience for every seat in the room.”
Messenger AVL and EAW worked closely from the first system model to the final tuning pass. Gann says because of the Adaptive platform’s scalability and control, the process remained within scope while delivering beyond expectations.
“My team loved working on this project,” says Gann. “EAW’s Adaptive system performed beautifully, and I can definitely see us using it for more system designs in the future.”
Powered by an EAW Adaptive system, Church Unlimited’s leaders believe they’re now equipped to reach the congregation better than ever before.
For more information about the Adaptive system, visit www.eaw.com.
