ROGERS, AR — Southside Church of Christ, based here, recently renovated their 600-seat sanctuary. John Westra of Audio Design Specialists specified Tannoy Dual Concentric loudspeakers — 12 Tannoy VX 12s — to meet the church’s needs. Mike’s Sound Systems of Conway, AR handled the installation.
More details from Tannoy (www.tannoy.com) and TC Group Americas (www.tcgroup.tc):
The church had three goals with their recent sanctuary renovation. First, they wanted to install a high performance sound system with an emphasis on natural sound quality. Second, they wanted to upgrade the acoustics for enhanced congregational singing. And third, they wanted to change the décor of the room from a dated A-frame design to be more appealing to a new generation of church visitors.
The church hired Audio Design Specialists of Madison, Wisconsin, to develop a strategy that would accomplish these goals.
“The first step was to design a sound system to provide very high fidelity reinforcement. The church wanted a system with sufficiently natural sound quality to give the illusion that no system was in operation,” explains John Westra, who headed up the project for Audio Design Specialists. “Tannoy Dual Concentric loudspeaker systems are the default choice when very high fidelity is required, in addition to their uniform dispersion characteristics.”
The auditorium seats 600 on a long rectangular floor. The effective height of the ceiling was lowered in the form of Venue Technologies clouds to support congregational singing. The elevation of the clouds determined the elevation of the loudspeaker systems, nestled in the dark gaps between clouds. Being black, the loudspeaker systems are essentially invisible, contributing to the illusion that no system is in operation.
In order to insure uniform coverage from this lower elevation, 12 Tannoy VX 12s were used, distributed between 3 arcs. The first arc of 4 is just ahead of the platform to provide the precedence signal, and the second and third arcs of 4 each are time delayed to take advantage of the Haas effect, giving the illusion that all of the sound is coming from the platform. Due to the wide and uniform dispersion of the VX 12, the coverage is seamless.
Tannoy’s VX range represents a major step forward from Tannoy’s renowned V Series, which itself defined new standards in loudspeaker design when introduced to the market back in 2002 – quickly becoming an established favourite of contractors working in the installed sound market as well as proving to be an agile performer in the portable PA sector. With the introduction of VX, the bar has been raised by several notches.
With VX Series, Tannoy pushed loudspeaker technology even further, setting new benchmarks in versatility and acoustic excellence. With an expanded range of enclosures and transducer complements, the new VX Series combines next-generation Dual Concentric driver technology with smart, ergonomic, portable and install-friendly new cabinet designs, enhanced build quality, and carefully thought-out functionality. VX Series gives installers, systems designers and engineers that critical advantage, which made it a perfect choice for Southside Church of Christ.
In order to provide an aesthetic bridge between the new ceiling clouds and the side walls, Venue Technologies diffusive channels were applied to the balance of the otherwise exposed ceiling. The installing contractor for both the sound system and the acoustical package was Mike’s Sound Systems of Conway, Arkansas.
