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Friday, December 09, 2011

Selecting The Right Contractor For Your Church Sound System Upgrade

Tips on selecting the company which will best serve your church audio needs.

Let’s pretend . . .

Imagine you walk into your next committee meeting and to your amazement discover that they have approved your suggestion to seek bids for a new sound and video system. 

You leave the meeting excited! 

Finally all of you problems will go away. 

No more buzz, no more hum, no more having to dim the lights and shut all the shades just to barely make out what you are projecting on the screen! 

You figure by next Sunday all of your frustrations will be gone. The next morning you immediately look in the yellow pages and see a large ad for Audio Services. 

You call and talk with “Blair” who informs you that he has on his shelf two of the latest, greatest speakers that will work in any room and deliver equal sound pressure and all frequencies.

To top it off he can have his guy there Friday to do the install! 

Then to seal the deal (or your fate) he throws out a price that is well within what your committee said you could spend.  Bingo we have a Deal! 

Blair and his hatchet men show up Friday afternoon.  You get out of work and excitedly head over to see the progress that has been made. 

To your surprise Blair and crew are walking around examining the sanctuary. They haven’t started a thing…

After many heated questions and answers, it comes to light that these particular speakers won’t possibly work in a room of this size (ie: average) without a needlessly costly add-on. Feeling boxed in, you agree.

Upon the completion of the “installation,” not only does the system not work, but now you’ve spent more than the committee approved. 

In fact you are so embarrassed you donate enough to make up the difference so that no one will know of you blunder….other than they hear it every week!

Rewind: What should you have done?
When deciding that it is time to upgrade the old sound system there are many options as to how to proceed. 

The first choice should be to decide to hire a design build contractor or a consultant to design the system.  Needless to say there are some very bad design build contractors and some very bad consultants. 

However there are also some very good ones!  My general rule (variables such as acoustics and complexity of the system also play into this decision) is that if the project is under $100,000.00 and in a room under 1000 seats I would explore a good design build contractor.  Most design build firms have good experience in these size rooms.

You also have the choice of using the local music store.  In general, unless the music store has a specific division that focuses on installation and has a strong proven track record, I would steer clear. 

Many of the poor designs and implementations that I see are from good intentioned “guitar shops” that have a great passion and understanding of gear and technology, but do not understand the laws of physics and just how difficult it can be to install a successful sound system in a larger room.

What does a design build contractor do?
A design build contractor should function in much the same way as a consultant. 

The only difference is that he is not going to bid the project out at the end of the design (the contractor will also be the installer).  I recommend that you once again do your home work and select the right contractor. 

What does a consultant do?
A good consultant will first and foremost find out who you are, what your ministry is like, future plans for the ministry and current challenges you are facing.

The consultant should take time to interview the sound technicians, musicians, worship leader and senior pastor to get a good understanding of your churches over all needs.

They should also take a good physical inventory of what equipment you already own and also your experience level with sound equipment. 

In addition blueprints and field measurements should be gathered to aid in the design of the system. 

Once the consultant has gathered this information the issue of budget must also decided. 

The best case scenario is to have the consultant help guide and establish the budget.  However this happens all too infrequently.

After establishing the budget the consultant should be prepared to do the first round of design. 

The design should be based on using tools like EASE (computer design simulation software that help predict many aspects of how a sound system will perform in a give space). 

The consultant should provide and equipment list as well as a descriptive narrative of how the system should perform. 

There are 4 main types of “contractors”

Music store
In general the music store is the least qualified contractor.  The person on the floor at the music store has more than likely not been exposed to all the tools and products that are available in the Professional contracting arena. 

In addition they have probably had very little if any training in system design, safety standards, proper grounding techniques and most importantly rigging. 

In addition they probably do not have software tools such as EASE or Star draw to aid in the design and documentation. 

Finally, you know that statement, “I wish I knew then what I know now.”  That usually applies greatly in this situation.  The person working the music store floor likely is unaware of what information they are lacking. 

Generally, unless the music store has a contracting division with all the proper tools and professional equipment lines, I’d steer clear.

Low Voltage Contractor
A low voltage contractor is a step in the right direction. They may (or may not) have the expertise required to do the project. 

Again, this has a great deal to do with whether or not they have a sound contracting division.

These firms usually work with telephones, networking, security and control systems. Their installation work is usually very good (unlike a typical music store install).

However, unless they have the tools and the correct people they may not be very adept at system design.  They may be good at copying the last installation they did, but they will probably have a hard time designing a system specific to your need.

Sound Contractor
The sound contractor is likely qualified to handle your project.  At the very least. they should be qualified to bid on a design if you go the consultant route.

When looking at the sound contractor is important to note the product lines that they carry and the type of work that they perform. 

Are they mostly a commercial contractor doing paging and public address systems?  Or are they geared towards night clubs and entertainment? 

Find out from their reference list and past jobs what they seem to do the most of and what type of systems they like to put in. 

For example if every install you visit is Brand X speakers, your installation will be using brand X speakers.  That may not be bad but you should be aware of it. 

With the sound contractor make sure you meet the people who will work on your project. 

They may have a great sales person and terrible engineers and project managers, so push to meet the entire team.

System Integrator
A true systems integrator should be able to take care of your design build needs.  They should have multiple product lines available to them and engineers on staff that have implemented many projects like yours. 

It is your responsibility to check the track record and confirm that these guys are qualified. 

Do some research and visit their installation and most importantly talk to as many users of their systems as you can find. 

Again with the systems integrator meet everybody that will be on the team of your project!

How do I select who to use?!

1. Decide if you are going to use a contractor or consultant

2. Select 3-4 reputable firms to ask them to present their capabilities to you on your project.  (ask around for names, visit the National Systems Contractor Association’s website NSCA.org to find members in your area)

3. Meet with the firms to explain your needs. Analyze…. Do they listen?  Or are they only interested in selling how great they are?  Do they give input as you describe your needs…?  “You may want to consider……….” or are they just taking down your ideas?

4. Set a specific date for the proposal to be turned in by.  (If they do not turn in a proposal on time chances are they will not install the system on time!)

5. While you are waiting for the proposal to come back.  Do your home work in finding out even more about these companies.

6. Let the companies present the proposal to you.  Listen carefully to see if they can articulate how they are meeting your specific needs. 

7. Evaluate the proposals based on how well the system meets your needs.  If the highest price is the only one that meets your needs you need to take it.  If it doesn’t meet your needs you need to change your stated needs so that you can afford them.

Gary Zandstra is a professional AV systems integrator with Parkway Electric and has been involved with sound at his church for more than 25 years.

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