Installations or refurbishments free of budgetary limitations are a rare thing. When they do come up, however, state-funded showpieces and churches lead the way.
‘It is always disappointing when technical teams have their expectations for a new system threatened by budgetary limitations,’ agrees Michael Garrison, founder and owner of Michael Garrison Associates. ‘This was the situation we walked into at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.’
The California church planned a comprehensive building renovation in 2007, covering new theatre seats, a major stage redesign as well as cutting-edge technical systems. Among these were a concert-standard line array and a ‘variable’ acoustic system to support the diverse types of service and music performed in the room.
Without budgetary guidelines, the original design team devised a ‘dream system’ – with a price tag of close to US$6m. Falling as the US economy was beginning to falter, the church leadership changed direction…
A new team comprising Paul Wonsek Associates (PWA) and Michael Garrison Associates (MGA – a system design/consultation firm that has worked with churches all over the US) was assembled and given a budget of US$2m. A new plan that included acoustics, audio and video systems in addition to other building systems upgrades was needed. Nashville-based Vivid Illumination handled the lighting design.
‘Our mission was to come up with creative design solutions that would meet as many of their original goals as possible within their new financial reality,’ says Garrison.
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church’s ‘home campus’ attracts a diverse congregation to multiple weekend services held in two separate venues. More than 3,000 people attend services over four sites on a weekend. The types of service vary greatly – Saturdays offer a low-key, café-style intimate sermon, while Sundays feature three morning services at the 1,100-seat main sanctuary, ranging in style from traditional to full contemporary. The sanctuary also serves as the video set for Pastor John Ortberg’s teaching, used at the church’s satellite locations in sister communities Mountainview and San Mateo.
Ron Fulton, Facilities Manager for Menlo Park Presbyterian, was instrumental in the decision-making process for the actual renovation, which started in January 2010, going through the end of February: ‘The room is a traditional cruciform design, seating approximately 1,100 people,’ he explains. ‘Originally, we thought we needed a line array. The architectural space – plenty of hard surfaces – doesn’t work well with technology. In addition, the transept seating areas, located to the left and right of the altar, might as well be under-balcony spaces. It was going to be challenging to get audio under there as well.’
‘A line array would certainly have served the main audience area easily enough, and the church tested one and liked it,’ he continues. ‘However, MGA showed us that a line array system would not easily fit in our reduced budget and that it would impact sightlines to the large stained glass window – a real concern for us. MGA suggested that we consider some alternatives.’
MGA arranged for the church to visit several similar-sized facilities where they were able to hear different manufacturers’ speaker systems, including Tannoy’s VQ series. ‘We really liked the sound quality and even coverage of the VQ system,’ says Fulton, leading them to request a demo in their own facility before making their final decision.
‘We were familiar with the VQ Series, so we were confident it would work well in this room, and it did,’ explains MGA Project Manager, Daniel Durst, who worked closely with Fulton throughout the project. ‘The church really liked the high-fidelity sound at concert levels which was a requirement for the more contemporary services. The VQ Series was the ideal solution.’
‘Because of the high efficiency of the VQ loudspeakers, we were able to achieve substantially greater sound levels within the constraints of the existing available electrical power and equipment rack space,’ Garrison adds. ‘This would not have been the case with a typical line array system, and resulted in significant cost savings to the project.’
In addition, the smaller footprint of the VQ system provided little or no interference with the sightlines of the large stained glass window located at the front of the church. The aesthetic design of the system was as important to the Church leadership as the performance.
The centre cluster includes a VQ 60 full-range, three-way loudspeaker, a VQ MB double 12-inch high power low/mid frequency module, a VQ 85DF two-way down-firing mid/high loudspeaker, a VS 215HL subwoofer and two VS 218DR dual 18-inch direct radiating subwoofers. Two stereo clusters, located to the left and right of the main cluster, consist of a VQ 60 and a VS 15DR for additional low-frequency extension. Stage front-fill (precedence) coverage is provided by a pair of V6 boxes mounted at the front corners of the new thrust stage.
To address the needs of Menlo Park’s particular room layout, Tannoy worked with MGA to come up with a modified horn – now named VQ 95MH – with a targeted coverage pattern to best serve the transept seating areas.
MGA had structural support added to the ceiling, close to the arch so that the VQ 95MH could be hung snug against the ceiling, avoiding aesthetic and sightline problems. A Panasonic TH-58PF12UK 58-inch Professional Plasma Flat Panel Monitor was mounted below each VQ 95MH on both sides to provide additional visual support to these seating areas.
Further-back, the side seating areas have a low ceiling and require delay speakers, for which MGA selected Tannoy V8 boxes – three per side, mounted to the ceiling close to the columns. Flat screen video monitors were also required to relay the service to the transept and side seating areas. MGA installed Sharp LC-32LE700UN 32-inch LED flat screen monitors directly below each V8 loudspeaker to handle this requirement.
‘We originally considered using the VQNet powered loudspeakers but getting electrical power up to each cluster area was going to be aesthetically challenging and costly,’ explains Durst. ‘So MGA and the church agreed to use the existing amp racks with new Lab.gruppen C Series amplifiers, including three C:16:4, two C:68:4 and C:88:4 models which are located in an amp room built in finished attic space off of stage-left.
MGA also supplied an Avid Venue D-Show system with Pro Tools HD and a total of 96 inputs and 16 outputs. ‘We really needed the functionality and flexibility of a quality digital console to accommodate the differing programs in our sanctuary,’ says Fulton. ‘Our A/V people love the features and performance of the Venue with the Pro Tools package.’
Two BSS Soundweb London processors, rack mounted in the amp room, provide all signal processing for the loudspeaker systems, including crossover, intra-array timing, equalisation, and signal delay for supplemental delay speakers.
‘We really like the power, flexibility, control and ease of use of the BSS London products,’ Garrison adds.
Panel work
Fulton is also pleased with the aesthetic look of the room, which now includes wall-mounted acoustical ‘BAD.’ panels from RPG Diffusor Systems. Since the church has a pipe organ which is used for the more traditional services, and because maintaining a good send of acoustic ‘ensemble’ for congregational singing was critical, it was important to strike a balance between eliminating detrimental sound reflections while minimising the damage of overly reduced reverberation times.
RPG’s BAD panels accomplished this very effectively. Paul Wonsek from PWA worked closely with MGA to create an effective wall panel layout that would be in harmony with the room’s architecture.
‘We kept the essence of the room, without making it look like a recording studio. We’re happy with how it looks and its acoustical effectiveness,’ adds Durst.
The project was topped off with five Di5T ceiling speakers distributed throughout the lobby area for additional sound reinforcement for those outside of the worship area.
For Durst and MGA, the project was a resounding success. ‘We went from working with a church concerned that their budget might limit what the systems could accomplish to people thrilled with the finished product. The Tannoy VQ system has met and exceeded their expectations – and it made our job easier than it might have been.’
‘We’ve had positive comments across the board,’ says Fulton. ‘Using the Tannoy system provided the performance that we required, yet with considerable savings on the cost of the project. It allowed us to invest in larger video screens – which people really love – and to do some other things we wouldn’t have been able to, had we spent more on a line array. It has been a good renovation for us.’
‘It is particularly rewarding to be able to work with a church and provide them with the systems they need at a price point that they can afford,’ Garrison concludes.
Audio System:
Main Centre: Tannoy VQ 60, VQ MB, VQ 85DF, VS 215HL, VS 218DR (2)
Main Stereo: VQ 60 (2), VS 15DR (1 per side)
Stage Front fill: V6
Transept Sidefill (2), VQ 95MH (1 per side)
Low-Ceiling Side Display: V8 (3 per side)
Lobby: Di5T (5)
Power Amplifiers: Lab.gruppen C:16:4 (3), C:68:4 (2), C:88:4
BSS Soundweb London DSP: Blu-160, Blu-120
Avid Venue D-Show System Digital Console with Pro Tools HD-128
Project Team:
Michael Garrison, Design Team Leader, Project Manager and Acoustic Designer
Daniel Durst, A/V Designer and Installation Supervisor
David Garrison, CAD Manager and Acoustic/Loudspeaker Modeller
Steve Shewlakow, Senior A/V Installer
Salvador Mora, A/V Installer
More: www.tannoy.com
More: www.labgruppen.com
