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The Great Auditorium: Megachurch On Ocean Grove Gets Serious Sound Reinforcement

Attaining quality sound in a concert venue and worship center that's roughly the size of a football field and seats 6,500 people

The most impressive structure in Ocean Grove, NJ, and the center of the community’s activity is the Great Auditorium.

Described by many as an “upside down version of Noah’s Ark,” the Great Auditorium at the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association features an elaborate wood finished, arched ceiling and stunning wood work throughout.

Built in 1894 by shipbuilders, the Great Auditorium is roughly the size of a football field and seats 6,500 people. During the summer season, the facility performs double duty – serving both as a concert venue and as the worship center for the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association’s Sunday worship services.

The ministry organization’s mission is to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal in a Christian seaside setting, with the Great Auditorium inspiring in and of itself.

Egg Harbor Township, NJ-based ACIR Professional, a full service production company handling audio, video, lighting, staging, backline, and sound system consultation and design services for the concert and special events markets, was contracted to design and deploy the Great Auditorium’s sound system for the 2009 summer season.

Ed DiBona, who along with partners John Grasso and Tom Young operates ACIR, discussed the challenges of the project.

“Inside, the Great Auditorium is almost as wide as it is deep,” stated DiBona. “The main floor features theater-style seating that slopes up toward the side walls.

Owners ACIR Partners/Owners Ed DiBona, John Grasso, and Tom Young. (click to enlarge)

“There is also a large wraparound, U-shaped balcony that extends from one side of the stage/altar area all the way around the room’s perimeter to the opposite side of the stage. Interior dimensions are 173 feet long by 160 feet wide with a ceiling height of about 50 feet.”

“As a house of worship,” DiBona continued, “room aesthetics were extremely important, so church management wanted a very clean sound system setup that did not interfere with the line of sight to the altar. At the same time, we needed to install a system that could serve double duty for both concerts and worship services.

“As a result, the ability to change the room over from a Saturday evening concert venue to a Sunday worship center added to the complexity of the project. Further, all that wood, the hard, reflective surfaces throughout the space, required serious room tuning and time alignment of the sound system. Without this, we knew that a loud concert could get pretty ugly – quickly.”

Mains & Delay
The sound system employed two sets of line arrays, one for the left-right mains and another for left-right delay. The primary system consisted of self-powered TrueLine models from WorxAudio Technologies.

Both left-right main arrays included a single TrueLine 215ST-P powered subwoofer at the top followed by seven TrueLine V8T-PMD1 full-range elements. These clusters were positioned about 8 feet out from the front left and right edges of the stage and flown at a height of 37 ft. to the bumper (top).

An upper balcony view, with WorxAudio line arrays flanking the stage and also providing delay coverage, flown toward the back of the room. (click to enlarge)

The V8T-PMD1 is an ultra-compact, two-way line array loudspeaker, while the 215ST-P is a compact sub bass system utilizing dual direct radiating 15-inch, 2,400-watt cone drivers in a tuned enclosure.

For front fill, the ACIR crew deployed two WorxAudio TrueLine V8T-PMD1 elements at the left and right front edges of the stage and placed one of the company’s new, compact X1M-P line array loudspeaker modules in the front center. The X1M-P offers a unique angle design, featuring one side that is flat with a 90-degree angle to the floor – facing directly out at the audience. Combined with 10-degree vertical dispersion and unusually broad 160-degree horizontal pattern, it is a solid choice for use as a front fill.

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