Whitinsville, MA (February 2015) - Century Baptist Church, located in Bismarck, North Dakota, recently installed an Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) sound reinforcement system to enhance the music portions of their worship services.
　　The church, seeking to provide both traditional and contemporary services, added a 600-seat room to the main sanctuary in 2007. At the time, a single mono loudspeaker cluster was installed. Unfortunately, the original system underperformed for their needs, making an upgrade necessary.
　　The church leadership called upon the Bismarck-based offices of Tricorne Audio, headquartered in Fargo, to assist with the design and installation of a new sound reinforcement system.
　　“While working with Century Baptist we created an EASE model to illustrate both the issues with the current set-up as well as the improvements a new PA would provide,” explains Dallas Anderson, Tricorne Audio. “We had used EAW’s QX Series before and they soon became a front-runner for the LCR configuration we recommended.”
　　The worship space, a rectangular shaped room that is wider than it is deep, features a 34-foot ceiling and a set back stage with a slight thrust into the audience area. Padded pews, carpeting and sheetrock walls with minimal acoustic treatment complete the room.
　　“After reviewing the EASE modelling we brought in the QX Series loudspeakers for a demonstration,” adds Anderson. “They loved it. They said that they didn’t even realize how poor their existing system truly was until they listened to the QX loudspeakers.”
　　Anderson specified two QX594i loudspeakers for the center cluster and single QX596i enclosures for the left and right. Three EAW MK8196 loudspeakers were utilized for front fill. Two are located on the lip of stage right and left. The center fill loudspeaker was hung with the center cluster in order to keep the steps to the stage clear.
　　“I don’t think there is a better sounding loudspeaker for applications like these than the QX,” he continues. “Many folks would put a line array in but with a room wider than deep? There is no benefit. These do an exceptional job.”
　　The QX Series high output, broadband pattern control and exceptional fidelity make them ideal for many church applications. The broadband pattern control tames the hostile acoustic environments often found in church sanctuaries. The enclosures are loaded with ultra-efficient mid/high compression drivers with a constant directivity horn. Four Phase Aligned 12-inch low frequency transducers arranged as vertical and horizontal pairs extend pattern control well into the low frequency range.
　　Two EAW SBK250 subwoofers were placed side by side in the front left corner of the sanctuary allowing them to couple with the floor and walls to maximize their output. EAW UX3600 processors drive the system and provide EAW Focusing Greybox settings to ensure an optimized response.
　　“Our congregation noticed the change right away,” adds Ethan Johnson, Pastor of Worship Arts at Century Baptist Church. “We can now hear every instrument without the volume getting out of hand. Every piece, from voices to violins, is clear and full-sounding.”
　　Johnson continues, “Given the variety of our musical styles on Sunday morning, we are able to maximize the sound needs of each ensemble and deliver a clean, consistent audio experience to every worshipper. We have a church full of happy customers!”