A new sound reinforcement system at the sanctuary of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, CO that’s designed to fully embrace musical celebration, including live performances and playback, utilizes TW AUDiO ELLA line arrays and supporting components implemented by regional systems integrator Equalized Productions (based in Arvada, CO).
“The church’s goal was to bring their aging system forward to meet modern worship standards as well as improve on the quality of all aspects of worship production,” explains Mick Whelan of TW AUDiO USA. “Meanwhile, the architectural design of St Andrew UMC is inspirational, and it was essential that nothing in the sanctuary distract from the impact of that visual experience. A custom acoustical cloud is suspended above the altar and the audio system must blend with this structure as effortlessly as possible, evolving, not standing away from it. Colour matching was essential.”
In addition, there is no acoustic treatment within the sanctuary, meaning the new system needed to offer exceptional dispersion control to minimize reflections. In addition, the space is entirely asymmetrical, requiring a design that featured different deployment left to right but which still sonically matched. Finally, a large choir is seated beneath the organ pipes along the room’s right wall; while energy from the array needs to be kept away from these seats it is essential that the array cover the congregation members seated just a few yards away. It was clear that a cardioid line array solution was required.
Under the direction of Equalized Productions Manager and Project Engineer Chris Malmgren, the new system comprises two hangs of eight cardioid ELLA6 elements per side flown in a left-right configuration that addresses the room’s irregular shape, plus a single M8 for side fill and a cardioid subwoofer center hang of one S32i. Power for the loudspeakers is courtesy of two Powersoft Quattrocanali 8804 Dante + DSP amplifiers.
“Working with Mick Whelan and the team at TW AUDiO has been a great experience,” Malmgren says. “During the design process they aided our understanding of their products and capabilities. This system is color matched and even with the heavy challenges in Europe due to the pandemic they worked hard to meet our deadline and kept in great communication. The TW AUDiO team travelled to the installation during the commissioning to work with the Equalized Productions team and ensure that the system met their stringent performance requirement.
“The new system is nothing short of amazing – it hits every seat in the church evenly and clearly. The seams between the arrays and the fill speaker are non-existent and the sonic quality of the entire room has jumped drastically, well beyond what we even expected in the design phase. Most importantly, the church leadership is described as ‘ecstatic’.”
