Established more than 50 years ago its 25 founding members, Bartley Christian Church is presently among the largest churches in Singapore. Reflecting its growth, the church built a fan-shaped sanctuary in 2006 able to accommodate 1,200 congregants – however, the sanctualry sightlines were challenging from the outset and, as its sound system aged, it increasingly failed to support the church’s shift to higher impact music.
In response, local A/V integration firm and distributor Soundsmith Solutions designed and installed a new sound reinforcement system centred on two Danley J7-95 Jericho Horns, a variety of smaller Danley full-range boxes for fill, and four TH118XL subwoofers.
‘Being ten years old, the system at Bartley Christian Church was showing its age and struggling to keep up with the music they are playing these days,’ says Danley Asia Regional Manager, Nicholas Loe. ‘Additionally, the way the previous system was designed and installed interfered with the line of sight to the projection screen. Many seats had an obstructed view of the stage and screen. After two years of research and discussions with existing users, church officials made the decision to go with Danley Sound Labs.’
Soundsmith Solutions was tasked with designing and installing a new system that would provide even coverage, great intelligibility and big musical impact without obstructing any sightlines, despite a relatively low ceiling for the size of the room.
‘The J7-95 Jericho Horn proved to be the right box for Bartley Christian Church’s sanctuary,’ Loe saidsays ‘Line arrays would have failed the line-of-sight requirement, whereas Danley’s small footprint and big output could get the job done. Pattern control was also an important factor.’
The new system at Bartley Christian Church relies on two Danley J7-95 Jericho Horns for the majority of coverage, capable of delivering 141dB SPL continuously. In addition, two SH95 loudspeakers provide down fill, two SH46 provide side fill, and six Danley SH minis provide front fill. To round out the low end, four TH118XL subwoofers (two per side) are situated behind the Jericho Horns to extend the system response. An Allen & Heath Avantis mixing desk serves the new system.
‘This design proved to be the winning combination for Bartley Christian Church,’ Loe reports. ‘The measured results showed a tremendous improvement over the previous loudspeaker system. The Danley boxes deliver vastly greater intelligibility, with an average of 0.76 STI achieved across the hall with very little deviation. Clarity is way up compared with the previous system, as is dynamic range. There is ample headroom, and feedback is not a problem. Sightlines are also great. Everyone can see the large screen, even those sitting at the extreme edges of the seating area. To top it off, the front-of-house crew is now happy because they have a representative version of the mix from their position.’
