Camelback SDA in Phoenix is one of the latest churches to enjoy the sonic control and intelligibility of EV's compact XLD line array system, thanks to a recent installation by House of Worship audio experts GJM for Sound Advice.
Greg Mace of GJM spec'd an input-to-output EV system, also featuring P3000RL amplifiers and REV wireless microphone systems.
"The church wanted to upgrade their system to accommodate larger touring Christian acts," says Mace, "and to improve their in-house production facilities in general. We suggested line array as a solution, and visited the church with Skip Godwin, an EV rep, to demonstrate that line array is not just for touring or rock 'n' roll; it can provide exceptionally precise and even coverage at lower SPLs for installations like this. In particular we recommended the XLD, which combines small format size with plenty of headroom, while keeping intact that very warm, intelligible vocal sound for which EV is renowned in its larger line arrays. Educating the customer about the available solutions is an essential part of what we do, and in this case the XLD made the most sense-especially after the customer heard the system in action."
"EV makes products that are very useable in House of Worship applications." Mace continues, "They've proven themselves on the biggest tours and in the most critical installations, and we can bring that same level of flexibility and performance to church installs like this. Modern churches often run the gamut from normal services to concerts to seminars to praise teams and season productions, all in a matter of days. This system is designed to deliver optimal sound quality for all. EV is a known quantity in that regard."
A total of four XS212 subs provide low end reinforcement, with two flown tidily behind each main array. In addition to the main hangs, GJM installed ten channels of user-friendly REV wireless (with N/D767a handheld capsules and RE97 headworn mics), ensuring high-end audio performance at the input end of the equation. The system is powered by seven P3000RL amplifiers running IRIS-Net software, with easy-to-use presets dialed in by Mace, according to the church's specifications, allowing the entire speaker system to be easily controlled and supervised from a single position at FOH by a non-professional operator. EV T221M monitors ensure superb sound on stage. A new Midas Verona 480 brings high-end sound quality to the right frame size, feature set, and footprint for their needs. Klark Teknik Square One EQs and Dynamics complete the picture, offering a remarkable performance to price point ratio.
"When the system was first installed, the pastor looked at it and thought that it would be too loud," Mace adds, "after all, it is a larger system that carries more dynamic headroom, and it replaced a smaller but seriously inadequate system. Still, the XLD maximizes the effect of the air it moves, with performance that belies its compact footprint; when we turned the system on with the church praise team, the pastor was amazed: the volume was the same from the front row to the last row, as clear as a bell. The XLD's dual 8-inch driver configuration is so smooth. It really is impressive, it was effortless to tune in a nice warm sound. When we rang the room out, we couldn't find a bad note. We tried the same with the choir mics and headsets. The FOH engineer ran out of faders; we were done. These boxes simply sound good. And, whether for speech or choir, the headroom is there for maximum resolution at any volume they choose."
Once the church was comfortable with the system, GJM and Skip Godwin visited for a final tune and tweak, along with a training seminar on all the EV, Midas, and KT products. "This demonstrates the advantages of working with Bosch Communications Systems," adds Mace, "All these products come from a single vendor, and the quality of customer support that comes with these products is as uniformly high as the sound quality. There's no weak link anywhere in this system, and the end-user has complete confidence-they can't stop talking about it!"
Electro-Voice...www.electrovoice.com
Bosch...www.boschcommunications.com
