A recent audio upgrade at the worship sanctuary of Word of Faith Dominion Church in Lake Mills, IA saw Audio Video Electronics (AVE) deploy a system headed by Martin Audio TORUS constant curvature arrays as mains accompanied by supporting components.
According to Kerry Graffunder, sales consultant for Brooklyn Park, MN-based AVE, the church’s existing PA had reached end of life and was no longer delivering the coverage or clarity required from a worship establishment that is 25 years old. “The pastor merely requested some ‘thump in the trunk’ … and the intelligibility has greatly increased also,” he adds.
This result was obtained by hanging a pair of TORUS modules to the left and right of the stage, with a Blackline X218 subwoofer in the center. Nearfield coverage is provided by a pair of Martin Audio’s differential dispersion DD6 under two angled scrims at the front of the stage. The loudspeakers are powered by a pair of Martin Audio’s iKON iK42 multichannel power amps.
“We have many different HoW installations using [Martin Audio] CDD point source under our belts, but this was our first time wetting our feet with TORUS,” says project lead Karl Selander. “We had not really had an opportunity to explore the TORUS line previously, but when we looked at the different options, it was clear that a CDD solution wasn’t the right fit for the room.”
Instead, by placing a T1215 (15 degrees vertical pattern atop a T1230 [30 degrees]) he knew he could get both the throw and width of coverage in an 80 by 80-foot-square room (particularly as due to the 17-foot stage thrust the net coverage area for congregants was little more than 60 feet). The technical upgrade was undertaken in two phases, with a new mixing desk and control up on the balcony, forming the first phase, and the “racks and stacks” following in phase two.
While the santuary is fairly forgiving in terms of reverberation, unlike some worship houses, Martin Audio’s technical support team assisted with DISPLAY software modeling to help ensure optimization.
Presets available in Martin Audio’s VU-NET software for selecting the installed TORUS configuration gave them the head start they needed, and the recommended FIR filters placed on the appropriate amp channel.
“The size of the cab was easy to work with, and the tech crew there had no problems moving anything around,” Selander says of TORUS. “The adjustments that were available with the waveguides were simple to understand and use and the support from Martin Audio was spot on. We had all the information we needed right out of the gate.”
