SAN ANTONIO, TX – St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church has been outfitted with a new sound reinforcement system headed by Tannoy Qflex Series self-powered, digitally-steerable column array loudspeakers working with Tannoy CMS Series ceiling loudspeakers.
Dickensheets Design Associates, Austin, Texas, was retained to design the new system. Consultant Ken Dickensheets has had a long working relationship with St. Marks and was responsible for the design of the original sound system that was installed when the main sanctuary was built back in 1997.
"The system had to accommodate a new pipe organ and address system needs for the more contemporary service that they offer on Saturday evenings," said Dickensheets. "Like many churches, the space had many reflective surfaces. It is always a challenge to create a system that provides musical clarity as well as vocal intelligibility."
Dickensheets added that he chose the Tannoy QFlex 24 steerable array for its sonic quality and ability to focus the acoustic energy where it's needed.
"The extreme steering capability was key," Dickensheets noted. "The speaker had to be mounted within the new organ chamber and provide coverage almost directly in front of the head wall of the sanctuary. The quality of musical sound and speech intelligibility were very impressive as well. It sounded great."
As a self-powered loudspeaker, the QFlex 24 could be built into the new structure that was designed to accommodate the pipe organ behind the chancel. That way it is also virtually invisible to parishioners – meeting another objective outlined by the church leaders and architects.
To fill in the rear and sides of the church, Dickensheets used the existing distributed ceiling speakers along with 18 Tannoy CMS 6TDC ceiling speakers. The CMS 6TDCs feature custom cans built by Tannoy to match the church's lighting fixtures and blend into the church architecture. The entire distributed loudspeaker system was then rewired to accommodate dual delay zones originating from the chancel and the choir area simultaneously.
"Like most churches, St. Marks had a limited budget," said Dickensheets. "So in addition to the ceiling speakers, we re-purposed the original loudspeakers from the old center cluster as source speakers for the choir area. One of the subwoofers from the cluster is co-located with the Qflex array while the other is installed along with the source loudspeakers in the choir area."
The FOH mixing area is in the main seating area near the center rear of the sanctuary. It is equipped with a Roland V400 digital mixer. The ministerial mics are automixed by a Biamp AudiaFlex system, which also handles all of the cross-source delays and system processing.
QSC power amps power the distributed system and the choir source speakers. The amps and controller are located in a rack in the sacristy behind the alter area.
"Sound Distributors, also located in San Antonio, did an excellent job installing the system," said Dickensheets. "B&A Architects provided the architectural work needed for the organ installation. It was a great team effort with outstanding results."
For more information, please visit www.tcgroup-americas.com.
