Southside Church of Christ, based in Rogers, Ark., recently conducted a renovation to its sanctuary, including the installation of a new sound system. The church hired Audio Design Specialists, an AV firm based in Madison, Wis., to design the system.
“The first step was to design a sound system to provide very high fidelity reinforcement,” explains Audio Design Specialists' John Westra, who headed up the project. “The church wanted a system with sufficiently natural sound quality to give the illusion that no system was in operation.” The firm specified a Tannoy VX Series dual concentric loudspeaker system to meet these goals.
Southside's auditorium seats 600 on a long, rectangular floor. The effective height of the ceiling was decreased using acoustical clouds by Venue Technologies to support congregational singing. The Tannoy loudspeakers are flown between these clouds; because they are black, they are essentially invisible, contributing to the illusion that no systems are in operation.
Twelve Tannoy VX 12 loudspeakers are distributed between three arcs: the first arc of four speakers is flown just ahead of the platform, and a second and third arc of four speakers each are time delayed to make it seem like all of the sound is coming from the platform. In order to provide an aesthetic bridge between the new ceiling clouds and the sidewalls, Venue Technologies' diffusive panels were applied to the balance of the otherwise exposed ceiling. Mike's Sound Systems of Conway, Ark., oversaw the installation of both the acoustical package and the sound system.
