Chicago, IL (June 6, 2012)—New Life Community Church in Chicago has 14 campuses, and the sanctuary at its Midway Campus recently got a new sound system based around a Variant Series installation line array loudspeakers from D.A.S. Audio.
West Chester, OH-based Troubadour Solutions, an A/V design / build firm with a focus on churches and associated Christian venues, was contracted to design and install the new sound reinforcement setup at the church’s Midway Campus. Dr. Scott Weaver, owner and chief designer of Troubadour Solutions, characterized it as “a very challenging space,” in large part due to a ceramic tile floor.
Weaver noted, “The stage / altar area is positioned along the width of the room and, hence, the loudspeaker system needed to provide broad horizontal coverage, but with very controlled throw so as to minimize the chance of acoustic reflections coming off the rear wall. After evaluating a number of systems, we determined that D.A.S. Audio’s Variant 25A powered mid-high line array elements were the right tool for the job.”
The loudspeaker arrangement in the Midway Campus sanctuary consists of three—left, center, right—loudspeaker line arrays, each with four Variant 25A elements, though the left hang is slightly different. Due to the location of the FOH mix position, which is located in the rear left (as one faces the altar) and up high, very close to the ceiling, the loudspeaker cluster on the left is augmented by two additional Variant 25A enclosures—one functional and one that serves as a visual ‘filler.’ “The mix position is in a rather awkward location,” Weaver said, “and this situation was compounded by the fact that there is a false ceiling area that serves as the platform for the sound booth. In order to effectively reach the FOH mix position, we placed the dummy enclosure above the four primary enclosures of the left array and then positioned the remaining functional enclosure on the very top—aimed directly at FOH. This was the only way we could provide suitable coverage for the mix engineer. The non-functional enclosure eliminates the visual distraction of having a ‘hole’ in the loudspeaker cluster.”
The Midway Campus loudspeaker installation took place in early February and was placed into service immediately. Weaver recalled, “After the opening weekend, I received a text message from the church’s director that said it all… ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ You couldn’t ask for a better compliment than that!”
Troubadour Solutions
www.troubadoursolutions.com
D.A.S. Audio
www.dasaudio.com
