Vance: It can help to some degree, but it's often just a small band-aid on a gaping wound. Which brings up another point. Most rooms have what I like to call an "acoustical imbalance". We want reflective surfaces close to people, kind of like when you sing in the shower, but most of the time you get just the opposite: absorptive surfaces close to people in the form of padded seating and carpet. All of the reflective surfaces are far away.

Vance (continued): We really want the opposite. In most rooms, if you take the absorption and swap it with the reflective surfaces, the reverb time won't change, but you'll get more early energy and less late energy - a better acoustic environment for everything.

RJS: I'd really like a recommendation on ceiling speakers, something with good tonal quality that won't kill the budget.

Vance: Something that won't kill the budget… hmm… I don't know about good ones for cheap, but we've been using the Tannoy speakers lately; they sound good and work well. But there are lots of others out there that may be as good, I don't know. I've used a lot of Tannoy CMS-6, -8, and -12 speakers with good results.

RJS: Follow-up to ceiling speakers - do you recommend 70-volt, or does this curtail performance?

Vance: It depends on what they are used for. If they are good speakers running on a good amplifier with good program source, I don't know that I could tell whether a ceiling speaker was being run 70-volt or direct if it's used for paging and background music. If it's a critical high-output application, then direct to the amp is the way to go.

Zman: Have you had a chance to check out JBL's EVO system? What's your view on it?

Vance: I've not seen it. What is it?

Moderator: JBL has introduced a new speaker line with built-in processing and room analyzation ability.

Vance: I'm all for technology, but I don't think that adaptive processing will ever replace a good set of test equipment and a good set of ears. For example, and this is just me talking, I don't use any speaker manufacturer's processors because I like to have control over the entire speaker processing myself. That way, I can figure out what's going on with the room and the system and make adjustments as needed. I guess I just like to tweak.

Ron: I've noticed that you specify Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers frequently on church projects. What do like, in particular, about R-H speakers?

Vance: R-H has a good product line. The speakers sound good, and solve some problems that have not been solved by other manufacturers. They have products that are hard to beat.

BAM: What's your preferred test equipment and methodology?