When the Perdido Bay United Methodist Church in Florida was building a sanctuary out of the ground, optimum coverage and intelligibility from the newly installed sound system became top priorities.
The church’s highly experienced audio-visual engineer, Kenny Stewart, managed the project, and after consulting with Brian Smith, vice president at Pro Sound & Video, based in nearby Pensacola, his search led him to Martin Audio. “While narrowing down my list of equipment needs, Pro Sound installed a Martin WPM array at First Baptist Church Pascagoula and my brother Kris Stewart (also at Pro Sound) mentioned how well that system performed," Stewart said.
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“I was onboard after hearing that feedback. I needed the whole system flown, adjustable patterns, a reliable manufacturer‘s input and assistance, and an overall clear musical system.”
After considering other premium brands, his decision came down in favor of Martin Audio’s recently introduced TORUS constant curvature array, purpose designed to fill the gap between a full-size line array and a point source solution. Stewart and brother Kris then set about the installation process.
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The new space is a standard rectangular room with left seating, canter aisle, and right seating, with approximately 75 feet from the stage to rear seats and 35-feet-wide seating sections. “Going into this new sanctuary, I wanted quality equipment in all aspects of the AV system," he said. "I specifically needed the ability to have a speaker system that delivered precise coverage, while limited floor space meant I needed to fly the subs.”
He designed Left/Right array hangs each consisting of a pair of SXCF118 subwoofers, three TORUS T1215 with a single TORUS T1230 at the base.
TORUS perfectly met the requirement for adjustable pattern control. Designed for applications that typically require a throw between 15-30 meters, T1215 offers a narrow vertical pattern of 15-degrees with a flexible horizontal pattern that can be manually adjusted between 90-degrees, 60-degrees or 75-degrees while the T1230 offers similar attributes, but with a vertical pattern of 30 degrees.
“Having not heard these subs in the air I worried about having enough output," Stewart said. "But I am shocked at how clean and loud the low end is from just four flown SXCF118."
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The system is powered by three Martin Audio iKON iK42 4-channel amplifiers, with all speaker processing taking place within the amps.
This new PA rig delivers more than sufficient SPL to cater for the two Sunday services—one a traditional service with choir, grand piano, and soloist, the other more contemporary, with a full worship band and vocalists.
“The TORUS line really delivers and surpasses all of our needs," Stewart said. "There's no treatment on the walls and I don't foresee us needing any. Martin Audio’s TORUS, coupled with the SXCF118, is powerful and exactly the speaker solution for my needs."
