What type of loudspeaker system design is best for our situation? It’s a loaded question. The answer for any given church is dependent on numerous factors, including worship style, the room’s architecture, acoustics and aesthetics and, of course, budget. Additionally, the options proffered by manufacturers are astounding. There is simply no standard system design, just as there is no standard church. Therefore, a wise and logical first step is to narrow things down based on the nature of your space and high-level goals and needs, then to seek expert advice all along the way.
“Acoustics and architecture come first, as they limit the number of [system designs] that can be used.”
Nick Dressler, National Sales Manager, Clearwing Productions
The Basics
“Acoustics and architecture come first, as they limit the number of [system designs] that can be used,” says Nick Dressler, national sales manager with Clearwing Productions in Milwaukee. Is your room rectangular or wedge-shaped?
Are you meeting in a gym or another space with many reflective surfaces? Examining the size, shape, ceiling height and acoustics of your space will tell you a lot about the type of system design you should be considering.“A wide room often cannot be covered with a center cluster, and a long narrow room will often not be well suited for a left-center-right (LCR) configuration,” Dressler notes. “As for acoustics, the reverberation time (RT) of the room can give you an idea of how precise your system needs to be in coverage patterns.” You can also begin evaluating designs based on your priorities for the system. “Absolutely make sure [the system] is designed to meet needs, whether that’s music, speech or a combo,” says Paul Henderson, Ph.D. and design principal with Wave just outside Charlotte, N.C. David Ellis, president of Ellis Pro Media in Renton, Wash., agrees, “What’s the program material—is it organ and piano, a full rock band, just speech?”
All of this said, specific situations call for specific advice and the experts have provided a little for some common situations below:
Speech-centric Thinking
While most churches are looking for a system to handle speech along with some style of music, it’s important to establish that for certain. According to Henderson, if speech is your priority, a mono system design such as a center cluster will do well, as will a column array—especially if the space is reflective. “[Column arrays] provide narrow vertical coverage, which can assist in increasing the direct-to-reverberant ratio for reflective environments, and therefore help in increasing intelligibility,” he says. Dressler recommends a system that pulls attention down to the presenter, such as a PA with front fills. But if music is an equal priority, a stereo system is almost always required.
Multi-purpose Space Issues
In multi-purpose spaces like gyms, it’s incredibly important to evaluate the acoustics and locate reflective surfaces to select a system design that provides the correct coverage pattern and keeps sound off the walls, according to Dressler. Safety is another concern—for the equipment and the occupants. “[For these spaces] we look at trim heights, durability and safe rigging. The equipment has to handle basketballs hitting them,” Henderson notes.Ellis agrees, “We worry about the low hangs, and therefore a line array isn’t always an option—they get in the way.” Adaptability is also a factor, since multi-purpose spaces are just that, often hosting meals and sporting events, as well as worship services. Therefore, Henderson points to a distributed loudspeaker system design to accommodate clearance heights and their ability to “avoid hitting reflective walls at nearly perpendicular incidence angles.”
Portable Church Considerations
Similarly, the portable church must also consider safety, durability and ease of use, because they must be set up and torn down quickly—and often by volunteers with minimal experience. “I’m a fan of self-powered speakers [for portability],” says Ellis. “They’re easy for volunteers and can’t really be hooked up wrong.” For durability’s sake, Ellis doesn’t recommend any low-cost options. “They just won’t hold up,” he states. “For smaller, portable churches, it’s usually a speaker on a stick situation—something compact and easy to set up,” says Henderson. “If you are trying to do line array, find a way to rig them safely.”Ellis says he’d go with a point-source design over line array [for portable churches], “You need fewer speakers to do the job—look for a single channel amp, as well.”
Traditional Spaces
In an aesthetically traditional space where traditional sound is sought—for choral music or an organ, for instance—reverb is typically the wild card. “Traditional rooms are reverberate and tend to have conflicting requirements, needing acoustic for the organ and reverb for speech,” says Henderson.He shares that Wave will often use highly adaptable directional and steerable line array systems in these types of situations to make sure speech is heard while the room remains reverberate. Utilizing a steerable system also makes it possible to keep sound off reflective surfaces common in traditional spaces. For churches choosing to blend traditional aesthetics with contemporary worship styles, Dressler shares that a full range PA with high-impact and well-placed subwoofers would need to be in play. “Another trick of the trade is using low-mounted front fills in larger systems to pull the audience’s attention down towards the stage,” he says.According to Henderson, the supreme challenge in these instances is hiding everything to maintain aesthetics, so he recommends always employing a designer or architect’s perspective. In addition, Dressler and Ellis contend that any space, traditional or otherwise, with a balcony or rear elevated seating—situations where the throw distance is greater—should consider employing a delay ring in their system.
Contemporary Space & Sound
Designing a loudspeaker system for contemporary sound in a contemporary space, such as a black box, might appear simpler on the surface, but there’s plenty to consider, starting with the desired SPL. Even within contemporary styles, there’s a broad range of output. “What are you trying to achieve—full concert level? If not, I might use a lower power line array that doesn’t need to go as loud,” says Ellis. Room size and shape still play a major role, too.
For instance, a LCR will typically work well in a large and wide, rectangular space, shares Dressler, while a center-cluster is well-suited to a medium-sized room, and line-array for large rooms. However, with these systems, the ceiling must be higher for sound to be projected to the back rows. “Where ceiling height becomes a limiting factor, we drop in rear fill speakers to keep the back rows happy, but in the end, it is almost always the acoustics of the space which drives us to the most optimal design,” says Ryan Teal, a systems design engineer with Clearwing. And again, although no two rooms or situations are alike, some approaches can reap positive results almost universally. “We tend to design stereo systems to give us a better mix quality in each seat. The mixer can position sound in space and not have instruments on top of one another,” Henderson says. “Some of our rooms have surround sound, too, which allows us to simulate room acoustics and get wider energy.”
All-Important Budget
The discussion wouldn’t be complete without mentioning budget. It’s almost always a concern, but experts say it should not drive the decision-making process. “Look for value. There are many equipment brands that sound good, so focus your energy on quality implementation,” Ellis suggests. And to do that, it’s best to bring in a professional you can trust, and bring them in early. “Not just some guy who does audio, but a professional who can help sort through all the overlapping design factors and provide a system that finds the perfect balance between aesthetics, performance and budget,” Teal asserts.
Rachel Hayes is a reporter/writer based in Austin, Texas.
