Two new sound reinforcement systems at First Baptist Burleson (Burleson, TX), serving the church’s traditional sanctuary as well as a contemporary multipurpose space named three1seven, are both headed by Eastern Acoustics Works (EAW) loudspeakers.
First Baptist Burleson technical director Jimbob Brown worked closely with Tim LaPrade of Pro Audio, a Texas-based distributor and systems integrator in Grand Prairie, TX, to design and install both new systems.
“When I came on board the church had recently installed a system in the sanctuary that just wasn’t getting the job done,” Brown states. “It was the wrong system for the space with poor coverage of the room. It got to the point where they decided to do something about it when I joined the organization, so I contacted Tim at Pro Audio to see what our options were.”
The original church sanctuary is a traditional, rectangular-shaped room with seating for 500. Stained glass, tapestries, along with plenty of brick, uneven stone and hard surfaces dominate the room.
“Unlike many traditional sanctuaries, the room is quite dead, exactly what you would want,” Brown explains. “The unevenness of the stonework and the tapestry does a great job of diffusing sound. Our problem was not reverberance, our problem was coverage. We started the process with a thorough site survey and ultimately determined that a point source system was the solution. Tim recommended we utilize EAW QX loudspeakers for their clarity and coverage.”
LaPrade worked with the EAW Application Engineering team to confirm that the design he specified would provide the coverage they required. The new system incorporates left/right hangs of two QX596i loudspeakers hung 32 feet above the floor. Two more QX394s are utilized for delay fill for additional balcony coverage. Two SB528z subwoofers, stacked in the left and right corners of the room, provide the low end the services require.
“When the installation was complete, everyone was absolutely delighted,” adds LaPrade. “The room is blanketed with even, high quality sound that provides musicality and vocal intelligibility. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t long after this was done that they started talking about upgrading their multi-purpose room as well.”
Like the traditional sanctuary, three1seven seats 500 but the space is wider than it is deep and is also outfitted with a stage, video screens and an exposed ceiling. It’s utilized for worship services along with community events, lecture series and concerts. However, the existing system was inadequate, so Brown and LaPrade were asked to develop the solution.
“We had such a good experience the first time that we got back in touch and said, ‘this is our budget, this is the space and this is what we need it for’ – what do you suggest?” Brown says. “And they quickly turned around a system based on the RADIUS Series, which sounded terrific and would be flexible enough for the space. In addition, I really liked that RADIUS offers Dante integration, which meant it would work seamlessly with the other components already installed in that room and with the main sanctuary (also Dante). It was a win-win.”
The system is headed by left/right hangs of eight RADIUS RSX208L 3-way line arrays – 16 total – and four RSX12 subwoofers flown two per side behind the arrays. System optimization, design and prediction are all accessed and controlled via the EAWmosaic app.
“I really could not be happier with the end result or my experience with the EAW team,” Brown concludes. “The feedback from the membership has been terrific – everyone is extremely pleased. The difference between the old systems and the new is night and day. It has been a great experience.”
