Martin Audio Wavefront Precision line arrays form the centerpiece of a new sound reinforcement upgrade in support of contemporary worship and numerous events at the 1,800-plus-seat worship sanctuary of Discover Church in Milwaukee in a project specified and installed by integration firm Avenue Systems (also in Milwaukee).
The expanding ministry has undergone several campus extensions since 1969, culminating in a major renovation in 2022 that included the sanctuary, with Avenue Systems part of that process. “This is the project that allowed for the installation of the new Martin Audio rig,” says founder and CEO David Price. “We helped coordinate the design and integration for the newly renovated space.”
Price explains that the PA needed sufficient versatility to reinforce typical modern worship, with full band, plus occasional choir and orchestra for special occasions as well as several special musical events throughout the year and a smattering of professional Christian music artists and large conferences.
“Although [the client] did not have prior experience [with Wavefront Precision] we were able to arrange a demo for them before the renovation which helped facilitate a worship conference they were hosting in the space,” Price says. “The demo is clearly what won the project. They were blown away by the clarity and performance of the system. It provided the necessary output for the special event, but using it over the weekend also displayed for them how well it performed even at lower levels for their regular weekend experience.”
Specifically, the system includes 16 flown WPS modules (eight per side) as a stereo main array along with 16 more flown WPM enclosures (eight per side) as outfill arrays for the raked seating as well as a pair of flown SXH218 cardioid subwoofer arrays (each with three SXH218 elements) and eight DD6 compact loudspeakers for front fill stationed on the lip of the stage. Finally, a pair of Martin Audio LE200 wedges provide the pastor with monitor sound.
All arrays are powered by Martin Audio’s iKON multi-channel process amplifiers in the optimum 1-box resolution, with iK81s assigned to the arrays/fills and iK42s to the subwoofer arrays. Visualization and optimization were carried out by a combination of Martin Audio’s DISPLAY2 and 3 proprietary software, along with EASE.
“The system performed incredibly well, virtually straight out of the box,” Price says. “We did adjust the optimization slightly to ‘hard avoid’ the balcony face, which added some additional clarity and minimized some odd reflections.”
Explaining his approach to room acoustics, he continues, “The RT of the space was initially not bad at roughly 1.75 seconds. The church did want to add some treatment to lower it to 1.5 or slightly less, but didn’t want to lose the character of the space they had come to know. They are a ‘spirit-filled’ congregation and value the congregational participation. It was a factor knowing that they didn’t want to ‘over treat’ the room. I knew the optimization would be a great way to compensate for acoustical treatment by instead optimizing the coverage. Although this was an unusual-shaped room, the rig handled it beautifully.”
The Church’s technical director Danelle Yacco adds, “The Martin Audio system has proven to be a worthwhile investment for our church. We have noticed a dramatic improvement in sound quality, allowing for a truly immersive worship experience. The sound is clear and consistent, providing even coverage throughout the building—from the front row to the back, and up to the gallery.”
Martin Audio’s Joe Lima and Martha Callaghan provided additional assistance on the project, with Price concluding, “They did an amazing job in helping to provide the demo system. The tech support from Martin Audio is always top notch.”
