At the end of 2019, a major fire damaged the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Texarkana, TX, with subsequent restoration and renovations began in the 2,400-seat space including a new sound reinforcement system designed by Ford AV (Oklahoma City) that incorporates Fulcrum Acoustic loudspeakers to support modern rock worship services and other events.
Specifically, Ford AV deployed 10 Fulcrum Acoustic AH4 coaxial horns in a semi-circle above the altar to deliver main coverage, positioned in five groups of two vertically arrayed units. Each array consists of an AH443 over an AH463, with the AH443 providing long-throw coverage and the AH463 oriented downward to serve the lower-level seats.
“Fulcrum’s AH4 is perfect for the space,” says system designer Jim Tassey of Ford AV. “It ended up supplying more power than a line array with focused coverage and high fidelity. We knew First Baptist wanted to push the system and it needed to sound amazing under pressure without distortion and the AH4 pulled it off.”
The mains are joined by Fulcrum US221 subwoofers in stacks of four on both sides of the center array in an active cardioid array. “I was really excited about the US221s for this project,” Tassey notes. “None of us had used 21-inch subwoofers before and the low frequency impact was impressive.”
In addition, nine AH96 coaxial horns are mounted at the ceiling midway between the altar and rear of the room as delay rings, while CX826 compact coaxial loudspeakers under the balcony and on the altar supply supplemental coverage and front fill respectively.
“The sonic quality of the CX8 is incredible,” Tassey concludes. “The wide dispersion for short-throw coverage, the off-axis response, and the common voicing they have with the AH loudspeakers is very important, so it sounds the same everywhere no matter where you sit in the church. Another great feature is the mid-range coverage in the CX8. People too often forget how important mid-range coverage is for delays.”
