Struggling with an aging PA system, the 800-seat Christ Community Church in Alamogordo, New Mexico, called on design/build specialist Michael Garrison Associates (MGA) for help. Working with church Technical Director Jacob Pierce, the solution was found in an Allen & Heath dLive mixing console and a custom Anna and Otto ADAPTive system from EAW.
Built in 2000, Christ Community Church’s sanctuary is very wide, but not very deep. This design presented the main acoustical challenge for Pierce – finding a stereo image that would cover the correct areas without blasting the back walls and filling the thrust stage with sound.
‘We couldn’t just put up any line array because it wouldn’t cover the room properly,’ he says. ‘We are now playing a lot more contemporary worship songs with louder guitars and drums, and the old sound system wasn’t cooperating with us. We had blown drivers, poor coverage and complaints about music being too loud or not loud enough just three seats away from each other. Our Church leadership realised it was time to make it better and gave me the go ahead to find our new PA.’
Specialising in the hpuse of worship sector, MGA was contracted by the church to handle a multi-phase implementation, with acoustic treatments being part of the initial phase one, and the loudspeaker installation to follow. MGA was directed by Pierce to design a ‘stereo’ loudspeaker system but, given the very wide and shallow seating area that wrapped partially around the stage, this was a challenging proposition.
‘We prepared multiple loudspeaker design options, looking at multiple brands and array schemes with a range of cost tiers for the church’s consideration,’ says Michael Garrison. ‘One of the exercises we went through was to compare the percentage of seats where a person could actually perceive realistic spatial imaging – knowing that some of the outside and wraparound seats would unavoidably have a monaural listening experience. The sound level computer modelling confirmed that EAW’s ADAPTive technology achieved the widest and most even coverage, as well as the highest percentage of seats to enjoy “stereo” sound.’
Pierce was invited to Abundant Church in El Paso to hear the new EAW ADAPTive PA that MGA had designed and recently installed. ‘We didn’t quite realise what we were missing until we heard the Anna system,’ Pierce says. ‘When we came back and listened to our system, we were blown away on how inferior ours was. It is a night-and-day difference between what we had and what we have now. With our new EAW system, the ability to have full coverage and not have to worry about the sound bouncing off the back walls is game changing. The amount of array spill onto the stage that we got rid of was amazing. We struggled every week and now we no longer struggle with feedback, ever.’
The new EAW installation comprises 12 Anna arrays, four Otto subs and eight EAW JF8 two-way loudspeakers set evenly in a trapezoidal pattern to provide front fill. The Anna system offers the benefits of ADAPTive performance in a high output-to-weight ratio enclosure with 100° horizontal dispersion. Like all ADAPTive Systems, Anna is controlled using EAW Resolution 2 software over a Dante network.
‘With our new EAW Anna ADAPTive system, no matter where you’re sitting, you’re getting the same volume and the same mix,’ Pierce reports. ‘We no longer have blown drivers. In the modelling, we went from a ±7.2dB to a ±1.5dB. That is far better than we could have ever hoped for. In addition to the team at MGA, I’d like to acknowledge Jonas Domkus at EAW, who did an incredible job tuning our system. Jonas is a phenomenal person who is a master at his craft. We really love our new EAW PA.’
