A recent sound reinforcement system upgrade in the worship sanctuary of Calvary Chapel of the High Desert in Hesperia, CA saw house of worship technology specialist E2i Design (Brighton, MI) deploy a pair of Allen & Heath Avantis consoles.
The church was dealing with 26-year-old technology and sought a more powerful and user-friendly upgrade for its staff of volunteers. something more powerful and user-friendly for volunteers. “They were unhappy with the flow and format of their existing console,” says Evan Hamilton, CTO of E2i Design. “They also were looking to add a separate mixer to handle broadcast and streaming of their services.”
The design team at E2i, led by install manager Jason Horn, suggested the Allen & Heath platform, specifically two 64-channel Avantis desks; one handles front of house and monitor mixes while the second is dedicated to broadcast/streaming. “Avantis, bang-for-the-buck, is the number one desk on the market right now,” Hamilton states. “These were probably the 25th and 26th Avantis consoles we’ve put in – we’re always happy with them.”
For connections at the stage, the team went with five of the Dante-enabled DT164-W wall-mounted I/O boxes to add network flexibility and reduce cabling. “They had 60 channels of analog snake. We pulled all that out and replaced it with a single Cat-6 cable,” Hamilton explains. The DT boxes connect to a single Dante card in the Avantis at FOH, which works a newly installed array of d&b ALi60 loudspeakers which powered via d&b 40D amplifiers.
“We didn’t realize how bad our sound and operations were until E2i Design installed this system,” says worship pastor Blake Ormonde. “The ease of use with the Avantis boards for our volunteers has been a game changer. The clarity of our new system is top notch and has provided better quality worship for our congregation to engage in. We couldn’t be happier with the new install.”