Sound and Communications - July 2008 Issue

Mounted behind the speakers, theprojector, with short-throw lens, isunobtrusive.An AV booth at the back of the sanctuary houses the mixing board.white DuraFlex finish blends in withthe ceiling. “Aesthetically, as youwalk into the church, the speakersdon’t stick out,” Lerew said. “It waschallenging to keep our coverageand our dispersion pattern but, at thesame time, maintain a clean look.”A 12-inch JRX112M stage monitorwas also provided. The speakers arepowered by Crown XTi 2000 and XTi4000 amps.A Soundcraft LX7ii24 24-channelmixing board resides in an AV boothat the back of the sanctuary. Thisboard is similar to the LX7i usedin the previous facility. Bled calledthe console “very easy to run, withplenty of flexibility, dependability andexpandability.”The pastors use a 915B Astaticgooseneck mic at the podium, or anAKG WMS400 wireless bodypack systemwith a C44L headset microphone.The audio component also includesthe Williams Sound PPA375. A RaneRPM 26Z programmable microprocessorfeatures a special switch thatallows the teachers on one side of theroom to turn off input to the main PAand use a lapel mic to address thehearing-impaired students withoutinterrupting the rest of the room.The Rane processor, which wasprogrammed by the integrator and“locked down” so church staff cannotchange the settings, handles EQ,limiting and speaker crossovers forthe main PA. It also handles distributedaudio to seven classrooms andthe church’s hallways. Each roomhas volume control by means of anAtlas at10d attenuator and one or twoAtlas ceiling speakers, powered by aCrown amp.The processing equipment and amplificationsystem provide the churchwith room to grow. “The church istalking about expanding for moreclassrooms and possibly a fellowshiphall,” said A/V Solutions owner/partnerBobby Dengler. “Additional outputson the processor and plenty ofroom for expansion in the amplificationsystem will make it easy for thechurch to expand. When we designa church, that’s one of the questionswe ask: ‘What are your plans for thefuture?’ Now is the time to do thatdesign for the future.”The church originally requesteda projector mounted in the back ofthe room to display hymn lyrics,videos and a satellite feed onto a7'x9' Da-Lite Cosmopolitan Screenmounted on the wall behind the pastor.However, certain church membersfelt that a projector hangingfrom the back wall of the sanctuarywould detract from the aesthetics ofthe space. Additionally, the projectorwould have required an expensivelong-throw lens.Instead, A/V Solutions used anEiki LC-XG300 LCD projector, whichthe installer located behind thespeakers. “Eiki makes a short-throwlens that allowed us to fill the screenwhile tucking the projector in tightlybehind the speakers. When you walkin the room, you see nothing of aprojector,” Dengler said.An FSR switcher/scaler locatedin the AV booth provides inputs fora DVD player, laptop computer anda live satellite feed for televisionprogramming. An additional input islocated on the stage for guests andteachers who wish to control Power-Point presentations from the podium.A/V Solutions came in to the projectlate in the game, when the churchchanged AV integrators more thanhalfway through the construction process.“A/V Solutions was better ableto meet our needs within our pricerange,” Bled said. “We wanted goodquality, something that would last forawhile, but was reasonably priced.”Lerew added, “We knew thechurch had a tight budget, and wehad to abide by that. Our companydoesn’t use smoke and mirrors. Welay the details on the line, but wedon’t add fancy features unless thecustomer is looking for it. We careabout the customer’s necessities,while also providing for future expansionand technology.”To help Gettysburg SDAC cutcosts, A/V Solutions provided thedesigns and cable for wire runs, andthe client ran the wire.Coming in so late in the processgave the installer only 2½ weeks todesign and install the AV systems,and it created some unique challengesas the A/V Solutions team workedside-by-side with the other trades.“Typically, in a new construction, we22 Sound & Communicationswww.soundandcommunications.com