Dating back 189 years, First Presbyterian Church in Alton, Illinois, features a traditional design with a 33ft-high vaulted ceiling and a large pipe organ. Rebuilt after a fire in 1990, it recently replaced its 30-year-old sound system with the assistance of regional A/V integration firm and house of worship sound specialist, Output Unlimited.
‘It’s a challenging room, both acoustically and because of the need to respect the architecture,’ says Output Unlimited founder and President, Tracy Bodenbach. ‘The goal was to provide a high degree of speech intelligibility for in-person and web-streaming audiences, with good all-round sound quality for choirs and any pre-recorded music used for weddings and other events.’ Output Unlimited proposed a point-source Electro-Voice solution using the existing loudspeaker placement to preserve the architecture and control costs.
The resulting installation can be heard clearly but hardly seen, nested up above the church’s arched timber beams. It comprises a pair of EVF-1122D/94 (90°H x 40°V) two-way 12-inch loudspeakers mounted along the apex of the ceiling, and aimed downward 45° (front) and 55° (rear), to cover the nave. The rear EVF is delayed to cover the back half of room. Each EVF is bi-amped using a Dynacord C3600FDi DSP power amplifier using onboard FIR-Drive presets for EV speaker optimisation.
Two choir chancels face each other from either side of the altar. Each is covered by an EVC-1082-96 8-inch two-way surface-mounted loudspeaker, with both powered by a single Dynacord C2800FDi DSP power amplifier. This allows the choir members to hear a direct feed of the services and to sing along to pre-recorded audio tracks.
While the equipment list and installation is streamlined and cost-effective, the results have proved to be impressive: ‘Since the main requirement of the system was to reinforce voice and pipe organ, there was no need for subwoofers,’ Bodenbach reports. ‘This was much more about selecting the right dispersion pattern from the EVF boxes, for maximum intelligibility and full coverage to the seating area. We also did a complete tuning of the room, which really confirmed how transparent and musical these speakers are.’
‘These speakers sound so crisp and clear, it sounds like you’re standing next to the person speaking,’ says parishioner Matt Corzine, who provides the church’s IT and technical services. ‘For the first time, we can understand every word being spoken in all the seating locations, including the choir.
‘In addition to the audio quality, we loved working with Output Unlimited, who really worked to understand our needs. Everything is tidy, clean and professional, and they installed everything in a manner that respects the architecture of our building. The sanctuary and nave sound incredible now, and they also made sure our live-streaming audio feed is just as good, which is very important during these times.’
