ORANGEBURG, SC – As any church usher knows, it can be difficult to encourage worshippers to take the long walk down to the very front of the sanctuary and seat them in the first few pews. That challenge isn't made any easier when a sound system gives them more than an earful. The problem can be particularly acute at houses of worship such as the Columbia Road Church of God, where Michael W. Templeton, president of Templeton Sound Systems, recently revitalized the sound system.
"The congregation seating area at Columbia Road Church of God measures roughly 90 feet deep by 50 feet wide," Templeton noted. "With fixed seating for approximately 500 people, the real challenge lay in the nature of the high ceiling, which is made of wood and exposed beams.
"This extreme depth of the seating made it very challenging for the previous sound system to achieve even coverage from front to rear. As a result, those seated in the front of the congregation were getting blasted while the people in the back of the room could barely understand what was taking place up front.
"Because of this," Templeton continued, "I wanted a line array system that delivers clear, penetrating high frequencies over a predicable and controlled coverage area and this prerequisite led me to the WorxAudio X5i-P installation line array."
The compact WorxAudio X5i-P uses five modules, each with a medium-format, 1-inch exit compression driver coupled to a stabilized proprietary wave-shaping device and mated with dual 8-inch cone transducers for the low-mids. The five modules are splayed to produce a broad 160° by 40° dispersion that creates a holding pattern ranging from 300 Hz to 18 kHz.
"The X5i-P effectively eliminated the coverage issues while at the same time, it increased the level of speech intelligibility throughout the room," Templeton said. "With this centrally flown loudspeaker cluster, we were able to achieve remarkably consistent SPL levels from front to rear and side to side; and those people seated up front no longer get punished."
Templeton noted that, "while the X1i-P isn't visible throughout most of the congregation seating area, it does a terrific job of covering the stage area and functions as an exceptional monitor system. We augmented this monitoring arrangement with two WorxAudio 8M loudspeakers, which in addition to serving as floor wedges, can be used as front fills should the need arise. Monitoring for the musicians is handled by Aviom in-ear monitor systems."
Two WorxAudio TrueLineTL218SSi-P sub bass enclosures provide low-frequency support. There is one sub enclosure positioned on each side of the stage area and each enclosure is housed in a custom recessed cubicle under the front edge of the stage.
The new system has been generating "wonderful responses from church management, the pastor, musicians, vocalists, and the congregation" since it was installed in early August. "For the first time ever, sound coverage is consistent throughout the house, and the audio level up front is no longer painful. The music has a pleasing, supportive quality to it and people can understand what's being said from wherever they happen to be seated."
For more information, please visit www.worxaudio.com, www.templetonsound.com and www.columbiaroadchurchofgod.com.
