LAKE FOREST, Ill. — As part of a three-phase facility upgrade of the church’s audio system, First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Ill., recently completed the installation of a new wireless microphone system. Placed into service to coincide with the church’s 150th anniversary, the new equipment was installed by Sound Vision, Inc. of Elgin, Ill., and is comprised of components from Lectrosonics.
According to John Miles, systems sales manager at Sound Vision, members of the church assumed a very proactive role in the selection of the new wireless system.
“The church has a group of members who are very savvy about audiovisual equipment,” says Miles. “While the system was formally designed by the Chicago office of Shen Milsom Wilke, members of the church actually selected Lectrosonics. After evaluating a number of wireless systems, they chose the Lectrosonics products based upon its sound quality, build quality and the company’s well-deserved reputation for reliability.”
First Presbyterian Church’s new wireless system uses 10 channels housed in two Lectrosonics Venue Series modular receiver systems. The Venue receivers are designed to accommodate up to six receiver units per rack space. All 10 channels of the system take up only two rack spaces and utilize Lectrosonics’ VRS receiver modules. For transmitters, the new system incorporates seven Lectrosonics LMa Digital Hybrid Wireless UHF Belt Pack Transmitters paired with Countryman EMW Omni Classic lavaliere microphones and E6i earset microphones. The remaining three channels are made up of Lectrosonics UT Digital Hybrid Wireless Handheld Transmitters with the company’s VMC cardioid capsules.
“The installation of the Lectrosonics equipment represents the first of a planned three-part renovation to the church’s sound system,” said Miles. “The Lectrosonics gear replaces an antiquated wireless system as well as some wired microphones that were previously deployed. Now, the pastors, guest speakers and others are all equipped with wireless mics. The sound quality has improved dramatically and nobody is restrained by the length of a microphone cable. Most services use three to four wireless channels, so with their current system, they have adequate backup as well as the ability to mic several additional people for special services.”
During the installation, the Sound Vision crew ran a sweep of the area to check for RF (radio frequency) congestion and discovered the area was quite busy. Miles noted Lectrosonics’ intuitive operation for addressing this common issue. “As part of the setup process, we checked for RF signals in the area and discovered that the area was quite congested — including another church just down the road that also had wireless equipment. In an RF rich area, the Lectrosonics equipment is really a pleasure to work with as the system makes it quite easy to identify available frequencies and lock them in. In no time at all, we had the equipment set up and operational.”
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