After fire, smoke and water caused considerable damage to the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Elkhart in northern Indiana in late 2012, the fully restored worship space recently reopened with new audio, video and lighting systems designed and installed by CSD Group of Ft. Wayne, IN.
The new audio system includes QSC Audio KLA active line arrays, with 13 KLA12 12-inch, two-way elements deployed in a left-center-right (LCR) configuration, as well as a pair of KLA181 18-inch subwoofers.
In addition, four KW181 self-powered 18-inch subs and a pair of K8 active front fills are positioned on the floor.
Robbie Starkey, AVL systems consultant at CSD Group, which focuses on the house of worship market, states “The First Baptist Church has a relationship with Northview Church in Carmel, Indiana. Northview’s production guy has used the QSC K Series in their mobile church applications. He told them that these speakers sound really great – and they’re both affordable and very reliable.
“So I had QSC draw up a design; they have the best quoting package in the industry by far,” Starkey continues. “The First Baptist Church leadership, guided by worship pastor Matt Cox, selected the QSC system from among three other proposals.”
The main KLA12 arrays are configured with four boxes at left and right plus five in a center hang.
“The extra top box is shooting to the back balcony,” explains Starkey, who got his first hands-on experience with the QSC rigging system at the church. “I’ll be honest; I was a little leery at first about doing the installation myself. But we were so stressed with work that, even though that’s not part of my job description, I went and hung the system and tuned it myself.
“You can fly five of those boxes instantly because of the ease of the QSC rigging hardware—it’s the easiest in the world.”
The ease of installation helped lower the overall cost of the system for the church, combined with the fact that the KLA12 arrays also fit the church leaders’ desired aesthetic.
“They didn’t want to have too many boxes hanging down really far from the ceiling, so the box count was relevant,” explains Starkey. “The presentation that QSC made was great, the price was great and the ease of installation was great. All those things factored into it. The church leaders were astonished at the end product, and they are ecstatic with how good it sounds.”
CSD Group’s design also included a new digital console and wireless in-ear monitoring for the praise band. The renovated sanctuary, which seats approximately 1,000, also now includes a two-screen HD video IMAG system as well as intelligent theatrical lighting.
“We did a lot of research and QSC was definitely well-priced. I have friends who have used QSC and really loved the products. So we began to look at how we could put together a system for a 1000-seat auditorium,” adds Pastor Cox, “I’m so glad we did. It’s such a great system. The clarity and depth that the KLA Series loudspeakers have given us is exactly what we needed. So far, so good and we’re so glad we went with QSC.”
