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Calvary Church Selects EAW Line Array for Audio System Upgrade

The worship center at Calvary Church of Santa Ana, Calif. recently installed a new sound reinforcement system headed by EAW KF730P compact, high-output line array loudspeakers. The new audio system replaces the original one, which was installed when the worship center opened in the early 1990s, and reflects the church’s continuing transition from largely spoken word presentation and traditional (choir, organ) music to a more contemporary worship style.

Gates Sound, based in nearby Buena Park, Calif. and headed by Doug Gates, worked closely with Calvary Church Technical Arts Director Trevor Behrns to devise the new system.

The width of the room requires more than 100 degrees of horizontal coverage from the loudspeakers. A group of church representatives chose an EAW KF730P line array system that offers up to 110 degrees of horizontal dispersion and plenty of output from a compact footprint. KF730P cabinets, the permanent installation version of the KF730, include dual 1.75-inch voice coil compression drivers and dual 7-inch cone drivers, both working with a mid- to high-frequency horn that fills the entire face of the enclosure. This combination is said to allow the KF730P to maintain exceptional horizontal pattern control throughout the MF/HF pass-band.

In addition, the low-frequency section offers EAW’s proprietary Phase Aligned design that extends the full 110 degrees of horizontal coverage all the way down to 160 Hz. The design also spaces the dual 10-inch LF cone drivers so that their bandwidth matches that of the MF through crossover.

“What we wanted, and what has been delivered by the KF730’s, is a really full, warm sound signature,” Behrns says. “We didn’t need gigantic rock music levels-even though this system can deliver it-but rather, full-bandwidth and very even coverage at every seat, without variance. When someone would complain about the old system, we’d ask, ‘Where did you sit,’ because the coverage was so spotty. We don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

EAW KF730 Wizard software was used to determine array structure, cabinet count and aiming. Audio Geer, EAW’s sales representative firm for the region, provided support and later returned to assist with final tuning and analysis, deploying SIA Smaart-Live for the job.

The system is configured in stereo, with left and right line arrays made up of seven modules each, flown above the farthest sides of the stage. Modeling had shown this approach to be optimum in terms of coverage, excepting a slight gap in mid- to high-frequency presence in the front-center seats. This gap was addressed with dual KF730P modules flown centrally above the front of the stage, tucked tightly up to the ceiling.

Standard KF730P flying hardware was used to securely fix the arrays to a load-rated beam traversing the stage. Splay brackets included in the hardware package allowed the installers to easily fix the splay angles between enclosures.

“This was really an easy install as far as the loudspeakers,” Gates notes. “The arrays go together very easily and the hardware is precise and solid.”

For more information, visit www.eaw.com, www.gatessound.com and www.audiogeer.com.

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