After struggling with a challenging acoustical environment and a system that couldn’t distribute sound consistently throughout the sanctuary, Prescott United Methodist Church (Prescott, AZ) recently upgraded to a new sound reinforcement system headed by TrueLine line arrays from WorxAudio Technologies, a division of PreSonus.
CSD Group (Fort Wayne, IN) provided the design and install of the new system. Working with the WorxAudio Technologies’ engineering team, CSD president Doug Hood and his crew deployed dual WorxAudio X3i-P compact, self-powered line arrays as the room’s primary loudspeaker system.
“Prescott United Methodist’s sanctuary proved to be a challenging environment,” Hood explains. “The room is very live, which compromised speech intelligibility and caused music reproduction to suffer. There are hard surfaces everywhere, with drywall, hard floors, and glass doors and windows across the back end of the space.
He adds that the room is also quite wide, making it considerably more difficult to gain even sound dispersion throughout the space for the approximately 300 worshippers. Further, the church didn’t want the loudspeakers to be visually distracting, with the compact scale of the X3s arrays fitting this need as well.
“Music plays a huge role in the church’s worship services and consists of both choir and instrumentalists for a blend of traditional and contemporary music,” Hood continues. “Considering the importance of music in their programs, we elected to improve the acoustics of the space and deploy the WorxAudio line arrays in place of the point-source loudspeakers that were installed previously.”
Acoustic treatment of the room was the first priority. To address these issues, 96 4 x 2-foot panels were strategically placed throughout the room, with another 16 panels for the choir loft. Additionally, the old video screens were replaced with acoustically transparent screens to allow the organ’s loudspeakers to “breathe.”
To minimize line-of-sight considerations, the CSD crew flew the two white colored WorxAudio X3i-P line arrays in a left-right configuration over the front edge of the stage area, using WorxAudio’s X-Minibeam 3 suspension system for each array. The X3i-P loudspeaker system incorporates three modules, each with a medium format, 1-inch-exit compression driver and dual 8-inch cone transducers. It is powered by a WorxAudio PXD-2580 digital power amplifier.
With a wide 160-degree horizontal dispersion and 40-degree vertical throw, the WorxAudio X3i-P turned out to be the right fit for the project.
“We also like the fact that the X3 boxes have an extremely clean, streamlined appearance,” Hood says. “The finished product looks much more sophisticated than many competing products. Our customer was very pleased with the aesthetics. We received comments that not only does the new sound system sound better, but it also looks better.”
Prescott United Methodist Church’s technical director Joel Bump adds, “I believe we’ve struck the right balance between music and voice, with the room still seeming quite live. When I ran the sound during the contemporary service for the first time, the instruments were each individually audible. All of the musicians immediately noticed the clarity. Several critical choir members reported they could hear everything crisply and at a good listening level. The spoken word is very intelligible and well-articulated. The sermon was crystal clear throughout the room. We are all very pleased.”
