When Michael Garrison Associates was called on to upgrade the loudspeaker system at the Abundant Church’s East Campus (AC-East) 3,600-seat main auditorium, owner and President Michael Garrison turned to EAW’s ADAPTive sound reinforcement system.

Located in El Paso, Texas, the church has a long working history with Michael Garrison Associates (MGA), having collaborated in 2004-07 on the design and installation of the original system for the then new AC-East facility. Ten years later, MGA helped plan a new satellite campus on the west side of El Paso, with an 1,800-seat main auditorium. The Abundant Church leadership wanted to raise the bar for this project, so MGA presented a design using EAW’s ADAPTive technology in an LCR system, where each of the three arrays individually cover the entire fan-shaped seating.

‘The ability of ADAPTive to be hung straight to smoothly cover wide seating areas, plus its stellar sonic performance made it a no brainer for the church to choose this product,’ Garrison says. The final design for the West Campus (AC-West) comprised 26 Anna main modules and eight Otto subwoofers, and was commissioned in May 2017.

‘I am impressed with this system’s imagery and coverage throughout the room – it’s beyond anything I’ve heard in a live setting,’ says church Audio Director, John Buntyn. ‘The systems’ ability to respond to minute adjustments makes it a joy to mix on. I appreciate that the mix from front of house translates throughout the room for the congregation’s listening experience.’

After hearing the outstanding sonic and spatial performance of AC-West’s Anna/Otto system, Abundant Church asked MGA to design a replacement EAW ADAPTive system for its 14-year-old AC-East system. This larger room required EAW’s ADAPTive flagship box, Anya, accompanied by its Otto subwoofers.

‘The ideal lateral location and elevation for the outside Anya arrays – left and right – would interfere with the video projector paths to the projection screens,’ says Garrison. ‘We designed an “initial installation” with the arrays four feet closer to the room’s centreline and all three main arrays one foot higher than they will be once the projection screens are replaced with LED video panels.’

This design consists of a total of 29 Anya loudspeakers and eight Otto subwoofers. The centre main array includes nine Anya and the eight Otto subs, with ten Anya used for the left and right main arrays, respectively. This system was installed in February 2021.

MGA worked with the project structural engineer to accommodate an easy, safe transition to the future deployment.

‘The unique steerability afforded by the ADAPTive technology is substantially responsible for making it feasible to nicely manage coverage to the seating area for the initial loudspeaker locations,’ adds Garrison. ‘Spatial imaging and sonic quality are great but will be even better when the loudspeakers get moved to their ‘future’ placement.

‘MGA is also working with Abundant Church on a Downtown El Paso Theater Renovation project that is currently in the works,’ he adds. ‘MGA will be using EAW’s AC6 steerable column speakers – the newest member of the ADAPTive product line.’

‘We have a great working relationship with MGA and are very pleased with EAW’s technology, products and support services across the different venues where we have their products installed,’ says Abundant church Production Director, Stephen Webb. ‘When we started talking about the downtown theatre project, we knew we wanted EAW ADAPTive. With MGA’s guidance we decided on EAW’s new AC6 speakers with Otto subs, as that would be the best fit for this smaller room.’

MGA has partnered with faith-based organizations for more than four decades; its scope of work includes consultation, design, integration, training and support services related to auditorium technical systems, including audio, video, lighting, stage, rigging and acoustics.