GREENWOOD, SC — The First Presbyterian Church recently installed two Tannoy QFlex 16 digitally steerable, multi-channel, array loudspeakers as part of a complete renovation of the church sound system. Hames Pro, located in nearby Greenville, South Carolina led the design and installation project.
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“Between the 30-foot ceilings, heavy wood interior and multitudes of flat surfaces, the old system created a lot of reverberation in the room – the sound clarity was horrible,” explains Russ Moore, owner of Hames Pro. “The space needed a highly directional loudspeaker system that would provide the audio quality and vocal intelligibility a church service requires – which is why we recommended the QFlex system.”
Tannoy’s QFlex system, which is designed to focus acoustic energy on the desired listening plane and away from surfaces that cause reflections, is ideal for spaces with challenging acoustics. After hearing a demo of the system (provided by Moore and Tannoy rep Scott Hough) the church leadership was sold on the upgrade.
The First Presbyterian Church has a traditional cross shaped floor plan that features a stage at the front of the sanctuary that stretches back into the apse. The alter is located at the back of the stage with two pulpits positioned left-right at the front. The sanctuary seats 500 with the majority of the seating in the nave or main sanctuary, and additional pews in both the north and south transepts.
“Because the QFlex 16s are just under 30-inches tall, 7-inches wide and 6-inches deep, it was relatively simple for us to install them without interfering with the ornate décor of the church,” says Moore. “We had the enclosures factory painted to match the walls and then installed them to the left and right of the stage approximately 15 feet off the ground using the provided brackets. They are practically invisible.”
The QFlex 16 arrays are loaded with eight 3-inch low frequency and eight 1-inch high frequency drivers and designed for a maximum SPL of 94dB at 110 feet. Given that the length of the sanctuary from the loudspeakers to the back of the church is 85 feet they were the ideal fit.
One of the other goals of the new system was to have it operated from a new front-of-house position in the balcony located at the back of the church.
“Previously the church had a “set it and leave it” sound system installed in a closet behind the stage with no operator control or monitoring,” adds Moore. “So we moved the existing wires and systems (where applicable) to the rear balcony where the new system can be managed by two Presonus 16 Channel Studio Live digital mixers providing 32 channels of input.”
The renovation also included the installation of a completely new video system that included two 52″ monitors located to the left and right of the stage along with two Eiki Projectors and three Vaddio PTX-70- Video cameras and host of other video equipment.
The entire project, from start to finish, took approximately two months to complete and provided the First Presbyterian Church membership in Greenwood with a completely upgraded sound system and a brand new video system – firmly entrenching their services in the 21st century.
“The ultimate goal is to create a system that meets all of the requirements and sounds terrific,” Moore concludes. “The leadership is extremely pleased with the end results and receive many compliments from their members on a regular basis. That is exactly what we wanted.”
