A new sound reinforcement system for the 550-seat sanctuary at Evergreen Ministries in Hudsonville, MI is headed by L-Acoustics Syva colinear loudspeakers.
The new system, designed and installed by Parkway Electric & Communications (Holland, MI), incorporates a pair of Syva and Syva Low enclosures on each side of the half-moon stage, plus four Syva Subs that are installed underneath the stage, two per side.
In addition, an L-Acoustics X12 short-throw loudspeaker is flown above the center of the stage to reinforce speech intelligibility, while four compact 5XTs are arrayed across the lip of the stage for front fill. Three L-Acoustics LA4X amplified controllers power the loudspeakers.
“They had a pretty typical flown PA, but it wasn’t really the kind of system they needed for a space like this,” says Todd Billin, design/sales engineer at Parkway Electric & Communications. He adds that the Syva loudspeakers not only solved the problems caused by the reverberant space, with its attendant speech-intelligibility issues, but also provided a much more musical sound system for the church’s worship music.
“In particular, the Syva Sub and Syva Low really defined the low end for music, something the congregation had never experienced before,” he adds.
The new system also fixed another problem that the church was not necessarily aware it even had before. “All of the components in the old sound system were flown, and they had to hang them in such a way as to avoid creating sightline problems, but that wasn’t necessarily the best configuration for the sound,” Billin explains. “Before, the sound was kind of disembodied; it wasn’t coming from the stage. Now, the sound from the stage is connected to what’s taking place on the stage. It was a huge jump in engagement level.”
Adam Locker, Evergreen Ministries’ Director of Operations and Worship, notes that he and the congregation like the way the search for a new sound system has turned out. “The Syva system sounds fantastic, and it looks just as good as it sounds,” he says. “But in the beginning I was concerned that after all this time of having a big, rock concert-type PA system up near the ceiling that people would wonder if something like the Syva could really deliver the same amount of sound. But it does, and it delivers it with so much more quality and presence. We were all surprised that something so slim and sleek could give us this kind of coverage.”
