Waltham, MA – January 2009… With a contemporary worship style that encompasses a vibrant music program, the Ministerio Evangelico Rios de Agua Viva (River of Living Water) is a warm, friendly, evangelical church that conducts services in both Spanish and English. Guided by Senior Pastor Daniel Teo, the River of Living Water church conducts energizing services that its congregation finds truly inspiring. The church’s ability to connect with so many people necessitated its recent move into a remodeled and expanded sanctuary, which includes a new sound reinforcement system consisting of loudspeakers from D.A.S. Audio.
Orlando, FL-based Advanced Audio Company, a design/build firm that in addition to audiovisual installations also handles live sound, lighting, and video for the special events market, was contracted to design and install the sound system at the River of Living Water church. Jose Nazario, the firm’s owner, system designer, and lead engineer, described the remodeled facility and the challenges the project presented.
“The church’s new sanctuary was built in the 1930’s,� said Nazario. “This historic building was originally a theater with a small arena configuration that had a main floor surrounded by tiered seating on both sides and at the rear of the room. The remodeled facility, which measures 105 feet by 80 feet with a 40-foot ceiling, provides approximately 300 moveable chairs on the main floor, while the permanent, tiered seating areas accommodate 900. The church’s services regularly include a full praise band and praise chorus and, as a result, it was essential that the sound system be able to competently manage high sound pressure level (SPL) music performances. Further, a high level of speech intelligibility was equally important.�
After taking a variety of acoustic measurements and modeling the sanctuary with EASE Focus, Nazario and his crew deployed a D.A.S. Audio Variant Installation Array system consisting of eight Variant 112A self-powered compact array elements—flown four per side in a left-right configuration at a height of 25 feet—coupled with two Reference Series Sub-218G subwoofers for low frequency support. The Variant 112A is a two-way full range system powered by 500 watts for the LF section and 100 watts for the HF section. The Sub-218G subwoofer is a high efficiency bass-reflex subwoofer system using dual D.A.S. 18G low frequency transducers with 4-inch edge-wound flat wire (EFW) voice coils. The two subwoofers are placed one per side underneath the front of the stage / altar area and are powered by a D.A.S. Audio PS-2400 high power stereo amplifier.
When queried about those aspects that made the D.A.S. Audio Variant and Reference Series products the right choice for this particular project, Nazario pointed to several factors that influenced the purchase decision. “The Variant line arrays offer high output, they’re visually discrete, and they sound terrific,� explained Nazario. Their compact form factor is the perfect fit for small to mid-sized venues such as River of Living Water church’s sanctuary. This system offers high speech intelligibility and robust SPL performance. Further, the rigging hardware is first-rate and it made the installation process easier than it would have been with many competing systems. We had just four days to install the system in preparation for the grand opening of the church’s new sanctuary in early November, so we really appreciated the advantages this rigging system provides.�
With the new sound system installed and fully operational, Nazario reports the system is receiving rave reviews. “Pastor Teo and the entire congregation have been very complimentary,� says Nazario. “We’ve received numerous compliments about both the even coverage throughout the space and the fact that the system is both extremely clear sounding and potent. Once again, D.A.S. Audio’s products proved to be the perfect solution for our projects.�
For additional information about Advanced Audio Company, visit them online at www.advancedaudioco.com.
About D.A.S. Audio
Headquartered in Valencia, Spain, D.A.S. Audio is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of loudspeaker systems, power amplification, signal processing, and related components. For better than thirty years, D.A.S. Audio products have been found on tour with the world’s greatest performing artists and installed in many of the most prestigious facilities. For additional information about the company, visit them online at www.dasaudio.com.
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