South Melbourne-based Factory Sound recently installed One Systems loudspeakers as part of a recent audio upgrade of the chapel at Luther College in Croydon. The loudspeakers complete the distributed system by providing under balcony coverage in the sanctuary.
The horseshoe-shaped chapel has a two-tiered seating plan which holds 400 students. A floor-to-ceiling leadlight window located behind the altar is the prominent visual focus of the room and the church leadership wanted it kept that way. In other words – loudspeakers should be heard, not seen. This specific requirement is what drove the design of the system.
“Because the school’s leadership team was very specific about keeping sightlines to the leadlight clear from any seat in the house, conventional arrays were out of the question,” explains Daniel Thomas, Factory Sound’s head of installation. “We had to strike a compromise between keeping the loudspeakers out-of-sight and maximizing the direct-to-reverberant ratio. There was up to 4 seconds RT60 at low frequencies and limited hanging points, which made it a challenge.
“The final design was settled after detailed EASE acoustic modelling, and several discussions with Luther College’s Music, Finance and IT staff about ways to maximize their budget for the project.”
Two rings of loudspeakers were installed to ensure coverage for every seat in the house. The ring dedicated to under-balcony fill consists of 14 One Systems 103IM loudspeakers. The system was voiced and time aligned by Simon Tait of CMI and Daniel Thomas.
The 103IM features a high-frequency driver coupled to an elliptical constant-directivity horn. Its 3.5-inch (90 mm) high-performance woofer features a large-diameter 1.25-inch (31.8 mm) voice coil that provides superior power handling and reliability. The combination yields excellent system intelligibility, solid vocal range integrity and amazing music reproduction.
“The school is very happy with the result” says Daniel. “The venue now caters to everything from sermons to rock ensemble performances and receives many compliments on the sound.”
The new sound reinforcement system is powered by MC2 amps and XTA processors.
