RED DEER, Alberta, Canada – Word of Life Church Lead Pastor Jachin Mullen, who is also Word of Life's music director, relied upon Brendon and Aaron Gerber – brothers, church members, and principals of AV company Absolute Music – to choose new gear so that the church – which expanded by 50 percent after removing a temporary back wall several years ago – would have an audio system that worked well for up to 1,300 worshippers.
The Gerber brothers ended up recommending a new L-Acoustics dV-DOSC line array system with dV-SUB and SB28 low-end to help the church fulfill its growing sound system needs.
With dark décor, theatrical lighting, and stage big enough for a full band, Word of Life's auditorium is more reminiscent of a theater or music club than of a traditional sanctuary. It seats some 1,300 people within a space that is wider than it is deep.
Knowing that their church would eventually need an expanded system, and with plenty of lead time for careful evaluation, the brothers Gerber were able to demo systems from three different manufacturers, and the dV-DOSC system came out on top.
"Given where the speakers would have to be located, we had a very short distance to the front row of seating and an exceptionally wide distance to cover," noted Brendon Gerber. "There are few speakers out there with that kind of horizontal directivity coverage. In conclusion, we decided the L-Acoustic system was absolutely the best solution for the room."
Vaino Gennaro, business director, live sound products, Sennheiser, Canada, used L-Acoustics' SoundVision for the sound design for the church.
"The nature of the room was quite challenging," said Gennaro. "The short throw and very large left-to-right coverage required the use of dV-DOSC technology featuring 120-degrees horizontal directivity. All the parameters were validated through the L-Acoustics SoundVision software, resulting in a perfect installation front to back and left to right."
The installed system includes five mid-high modular dV-DOSC units in left and right stereo clusters. The top cabinets hit the back rows and the bottoms cover the seating a few rows from the front.
The system's substantial low-end is generated by two L-Acoustics dV-SUBs per side and two L-Acoustics SB28s per side.
Four L-Acoustics four-channel LA8 integrated amp/DSPs provide the system with power and processing. An XTA DP448 speaker management system sits between the existing console and the LA8s to provide matrix control.
One L-Acoustics 12XT on each side of the stage provides side fill, while four L-Acoustics 8XTs placed on the stage steps provide front fill.
"The 8XTs are small, but excellent sounding speakers," said Brendon Gerber. "Their purpose is to provide coverage to the first few rows. The big advantage of including them in the design is that when the main audio system is not being used, they can be easily moved and used elsewhere in the building or on remote engagements." A single L-Acoustics four-channel LA8 integrated amp/DSP provides power and processing for the fill speakers.
"In addition to working with audio, I am also a technology consultant," said Brendon Gerber. "Computer technology continues to grow exponentially, and many audio companies have taken advantage of the new analysis and engineering tools that are available. L-Acoustics is at the forefront of that trend. A lot of science goes into its products. You can really hear the difference, too. The strategically designed L-Acoustics system reproduces a complete audio spectrum that is so clean and precise; so much so that you can have a conversation even when the system is pushing high decibels. The church family at Word of Life is overjoyed to have a new voice for their musical passion; our auditorium simply comes to life with sound!"
For more information, please visit www.sennheiser.com and www.l-acoustics.com.
