A recent A/V upgrade at the Discover Church in Milwaukee saw a Wavefront Precision line array specified and installed by Martin Audio partner Avenue Systems. The expanding ministry has completed several campus extensions since 1969, culminating in a major renovation in 2022, which included the sanctuary.
‘This is the project that allowed for the installation of the new Martin Audio rig,’ says Avenue Systems founder and CEO, David Price. ‘We helped coordinate the design and integration for the newly renovated space.’
Avenue Systems undertooka full A/V makeover of the main worship area and video control room, installing new audio, lighting, video, control and acoustical systems.
Price explains that the PA needed sufficient versatility to reinforce typical modern worship, with full band, plus occasional choir and orchestra for special occasions in a room seating a little over 1,800 congregants. ‘The church also conducts several special musical events throughout the year and hosts a smattering of professional Christian music artists and large conferences,’ he says.
Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision line array was deemed best fit for purpose. ‘Although [the client] did not have prior experience we were able to arrange a demo for them before the renovation, which helped facilitate a worship conference being hosted in the space,’ Price says. ‘The demo is clearly what won the project. They were blown away by the clarity and performance of the system. It provided the necessary output for the special event, but using it over the weekend also displayed how well it performed even at lower levels for their regular weekend experience.’
Avenue Systems have been recommending Martin Audio solutions for several years following an initial CDD system provided for a client in Clearwater, Florida. in 2017. ‘We were immediately compelled by the performance and price point of the system so that Martin quickly became a staple for us in projects across the country.’
Designed and optimised by the Avenue Systems technical team, the installation comprises 16 flown WPS (eight per side) as a stereo main array; 16 flown WPM (eight per side) as out fill arrays for the raked seating; a pair of flown SXH218 cardioid subwoofer arrays (each with three SXH218 elements) and eight DD6 front fill loudspeakers on the lip of the stage. Finally, a pair of Martin Audio LE200 wedges provide the pastor with reference monitor audio.
All pf the arrays are powered by Martin Audio’s iKon multichannel processor/amplifiers in optimum one-box resolution – iK81s assigned to the arrays and fills, and iK42s to the subwoofer arrays.
Visualisation and optimisation were carried out by a combination of Martin Audio’s Display 2 and 3 software, along with Ease. ‘The system performed incredibly well virtually straight out of the box,’ Price says. ‘We did adjust the optimisation slightly to “hard avoid” the balcony face, which added clarity and minimised some odd reflections.’
‘The RT of the space was initially not bad at roughly 1.75s,’ Price continues. ‘The church did want to add some treatment to lower it to 1.5s or slightly less, but didn’t want to lose the character of the space. They are a spirit-filled congregation and value the congregational participation. It was a factor knowing that they didn’t want to “over treat” the room. I knew the optimisation would be a great way to compensate for acoustical treatment by instead optimising the coverage. Although this was an unusual-shaped room, the rig handled it beautifully.’
‘The Martin Audio system has proven to be a worthwhile investment for our church,’ agrees church Technical Director, Danelle Yacco. ‘We have noticed a dramatic improvement in sound quality, allowing for a truly immersive worship experience. The sound is clear and consistent, providing even coverage throughout the building - from the front row to the back, and up to the gallery.’
‘They did an amazing job in helping to provide the demo system,’ Price says of Martin Audio’s Joe Lima and Martha Callaghan. ‘The tech support from Martin Audio is always top notch.’
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