Apex, NC (October 5, 2026)—Houses of worship understandably place a great importance on being able to effectively spread their message—but sometimes an ageing audio system can get in the way of achieving that goal. That’s what Apex Baptist Church in North Carolina was facing in recent times, and ultimately, what drove the congregation to contact Atlanta-based S&L Integrated.
“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with Shawn Walden, the Worship Pastor at Apex Baptist,” says Gage Helton, Director of Operations at S&L Integrated. “When they realized their previous audio infrastructure was holding back their worship experience, he reached out to us to design a complete, top-to-bottom system redesign.
“While the church had grown significantly, the old system just couldn’t keep up,” Helton continues. “Speech clarity was lost due to a lack of coverage, particularly in and under the balcony sections. The upgrade was also designed to remove previous technical barriers to elevate their Sunday morning experience, building a scalable platform that could support future growth and higher-production events.”
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The worship facility itself sports a deep balcony and reflective side walls, all resulting in RT60 reverb times, flutter echo off the side walls and balcony face, and acoustic shadowing under and above the balcony. S&L Integrated’s answer was to apply physical acoustic treatment on the walls and balcony face, and bring in a Martin Audio WPS system.
The newly installed system comprises flown hangs of 10 Martin Audio WPS elements per side, driven in single-box resolution. A flown center array comprising three SXHF218 subwoofers delivers extended low-end, deployed in a cardioid configuration to help keep energy off the stage.
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Additionally, a half-dozen Martin Audio FlexPoint FP6 loudspeakers act as front fills, while six FlexPoint FP4 enclosures provide upper-balcony fill. Powering all that are three Martin Audio iKON iK81 and three iK42 amplifiers. Martin Audio’s DISPLAY software was used to model the space and define trim heights, pick points, and x/y dimensions.
Helton confirms the transformation is night and day. “The room sounds open, warm, and exceptionally clear. Vocals sit effortlessly on top of the mix without ever feeling harsh or pushed, and the low-end coupling from the flown cardioid sub array gives worship music a visceral, high-fidelity impact without room boominess.”
