The new worship sanctuary of Perdido Bay United Methodist Church in Pensacola, FL is equipped with a sound reinforcement system incorporating recently introduced Martin Audio TORUS constant curvature arrays in a design intended to provided optimized coverage and intelligibility.
The project was managed by church audio-visual engineer Kenny Stewart in consultation with Brian Smith, vice president of Pro Sound & Video (also in Pensacola). “While narrowing down my list of equipment needs,” Steward explains, “Pro Sound installed a Martin WPM array at First Baptist Church Pascagoula, and my brother Kris Stewart (also at Pro Sound) mentioned how well that system performed. I was onboard after hearing that feedback. I needed the whole system flown, adjustable patterns, a reliable manufacturer‘s input and assistance, and an overall clear musical system.”
The new space is rectangular room with left and right seating sections separated by a center aisle. Limited floor space meant flying the system’s subwoofers as well as the main loudspeakers. As a result, left and right arrays are topped by a pair of SXCF118 subwoofers followed by three TORUS T1215 modules and a single TORUS T1230 module at the base.
TORUS met the project’s requirement for adjustable pattern control. Designed for applications that typically require a throw between 15 to 30 meters, the T1215 offers a narrow vertical pattern of 15 degrees joined by a horizontal pattern that can be manually adjusted between 90, 85 and 60 degrees. Meanwhile, T1230 offers wider vertical dispersion of 30 degrees.
“Having not heard these subs in the air I worried about having enough output,” Stewart notes. “But I’m shocked at how clean and loud the low end is from just four flown SXCF118.” The loudspeakers and subwoofers are powered by three Martin Audio iKON iK42 4-channel amplifiers, with all processing taking place within the amps.
The project team states that the new rig delivers more than sufficient SPL to cater to the church’s two Sunday services — one that’s traditional service with a choir, grand piano and soloist and the other more contemporary with a full worship band and vocalists.
“The TORUS line really delivers and surpasses all of our needs,” Steward concludes. “There’s no treatment on the walls and I don’t foresee us needing any. Martin Audio’s TORUS, coupled with the SXCF118, is powerful and exactly the speaker solution for my needs.”
