SOLUTIONS: BIRMINGHAM CHRISTIAN CENTRE UNITED KINGDOM
The Nexo solution features hangs of GEO S1210 and S1230 array cabinets, with PS8 monitors providing front fill and RS15 subs under the stage
Precise coverage
A new audio system for a modern church needed even coverage for music and good audibility for speech. James Christopher reports on the chosen solution
Birmingham Christian Centre is a lively church in the heart of England’s second city. With a main space that seats 850 people, the centre hosts a number of regular events each week: not just church services and discussion groups but also children’s events, keep fit classes and more. Music plays an important part in many of the services held there. When it was approached
by the centre for a new sound system, local company LMC Audio Systems came up with an exacting project brief. The main requirements for the venue, specified by LMC Birmingham’s technical field sales manager Tim Bamber, were that the main system should provide even coverage, good speech intelligibility and unobtrusive aesthetics. As the front- of-house position is right at the back of the hall, it was especially important to provide consistent frequency response and SPLs throughout the entire room. The solution was a system based around Nexo’s GEO12 array series. The GEO 12
50 July 2014
allowed LMC to achieve consistent SPLs within 3dB-A, with equal amounts of mid-to-upper range energy at the back and the front. This ensures that the engineer mixing the service can carry out his job without subjecting the congregation to unnecessarily high volume levels.
Another criterion was that
the flown main speakers should provide a full-range, punchy sound without too much reliance on sub bass. The centre’s previous system lacked headroom and the subwoofers – located beneath the stage with a tendency to be uncontrolled and ‘boomy’ – were used to compensate. LMC designed a system consisting of left and right hangs of GEO S12, each comprising two S1210 and one S1230 modular cabinets. The hall was producing large amounts of reverberation, and this has been minimised by using these highly directional loudspeakers and designing the system to cover only the required areas. The line array system also
directs vertical energy away from the high ceiling. The speakers in the left and right hangs were fitted with 120º flanges as the room is very wide. Two further S1230s, one per side, have been flown vertically for outfill to the extreme sides of the venue. Two RS15 subwoofers are installed underneath the stage, while four PS8 monitors across the front of the stage provide front fill. The system is being driven by two NXAMP 4x4 Powered TDControllers. James Lawford, sales
manager at LMC Birmingham who handled the technical specification and document proposal, also carried out loudspeaker predictions using Nexo NS-1 simulation software. “This allowed the exact configuration to be determined before a speaker was even installed,” he says. “The real world performance matched the prediction with great accuracy.” Running down to 85Hz, the
GEO S12 cabinets can provide most of the bass energy the system needs, with the RS15
subs used to add weight to the bass guitar, kick drum and low keyboard sounds. “The spoken word is of critical importance in a church environment, so intelligibility was key to this installation,” says Lawford. “The GEO S12 system provides crystal clear speech coverage across the whole room. The addition of front fills helps locate the perceived sound source back to the stage instead of overhead for the people closest to the stage. The addition of front fills also ensures the church leadership, sitting on the front row, can hear!” Finally, the solution proved cost-effective for the centre. “Nexo products are extremely high quality but represent excellent value for money,” says Lawford. “The modular rigging system requires only the necessary parts to be purchased. And buying a high quality system saves money in the long term by not needing upgrades in the foreseeable future.”
www.lmcaudio.co.uk www.nexo-sa.com
[INSTALLED]
AUDIO Nexo GEO S1210 and S1230 two-way loudspeakers
Nexo RS15 subwoofers Nexo PS8 two-way monitors
Nexo NXAMP 4x4 Powered TDController amplifers
[ABOUT THE MAIN CONTRACTOR]
LMC Audio dates back to the 1980s and has offices in London and Birmingham, both of which have extensive demo areas
The company does not install systems itself, but has a list of approved installation contractors that it recommends to its clients
Recent installations for which the company has supplied equipment include the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall at Essex University, the Director’s Suite at the Science Museum in London, and the Oval Space arts and events venue in east London
www.installation-international.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60