Audio Video Electronics looks to Danley for increased intelligibility at Summit Church

WORLD: As continued growth of the congregation had begun to put strain on its small sanctuary, church leaders at First Missionary Church in Nile, Michigan took the decision to move to an entirely new location. The church provides a contemporary approach to Christian worship, delivering services backed by a full complement of vocals, keyboard, guitar, bass and drums. With the new location providing a blank canvas to work with, Minnesota-based Audio Video Electronics (AVE) was enlisted to design and install a sound system capable of delivering ‘maximum impact and intelligibility’ during services. The resulting solution centred on Danley Sound Labs SH-96 and Sh-60 horn loudspeakers.

As well as moving to a new location, the name was changed to reflect the new surroundings. Sat atop a hill in the relatively flat geography of southern Michigan, the church is now known as Summit Church. Audio Visual Electronics’ president Stefan Svärd explained how the project came about. ‘Summit Church’s worship director posted on a Church Sound and Media Tech Facebook group looking for bids for a design the church had been given. We were recommended by three people, and I personally responded to his request. Although it seemed like something we could bid on, I wanted to speak with the worship director to understand exactly what their current situation was and what they were hoping to achieve with the new system. We spoke on several occasions, and I came to believe the design they were given was a square peg for a round hole.

‘The room was to be wide and shallow – a gym really – with the stage on the long side,’ he continued. ‘The design called for just one screen with only a 40-degree viewing angle, and the specified loudspeakers had no effective pattern control – in a concrete box with no acoustical treatment. It was going to be an A/V nightmare. We couldn’t bid on it in good conscience, but we could work out an alternative. We could give them two appropriate screens, excellent pattern control, and acoustical treatments.’

Mr Svärd took the decision to visit the church at its old location to properly determine its needs, before going back and designing a new system in EASE comprising a main mono cluster with a single Danley SH-96 providing main coverage, Danley SH-60s for side fills and Two Tannoy VX6s for near fill. ‘I originally included a subwoofer in the design, but the budget wasn’t there,’ he added. ‘Fortunately, the SH-96 has respectable output down to 40Hz. Summit’s bass won’t knock you over or crush your chest, but it sounds full and musical. As funds permit, they may elect to add a subwoofer.’

Aside from the loudspeakers, QSC CDX-Q networked amplifiers have been installed to power the system, with processing from a QSC Q-sys Core 25. A portable Soundcraft Expression console provides the church with enough mixing functionality for bull-blown events, while a simple microphone and instrument jack coupled to a QSC TouchMix for control is more than adequate for smaller settings. Up on stage, the band members are using a new Digital Audio Labs Livemix personal monitoring system – connected to the Soundcraft desk via Dante. For the visuals, SVSI video processing handles a range of input sources, with final output to two Vivitek 4800 lumen projectors and two Draper screens.

Unfortunately when the time came for the first service in the new building, the acoustic panels were still yet to arrive, making the room little more than a concrete box. ‘Without the acoustic panels in place, the pastor feared the worst and expected some complaints,’ added Mr Svärd. ‘To his amazement, there was not a single complaint! One older member said that for the first time ever he heard and understood every single word that was spoken. For me, there can be no greater testament to Danley’s tremendous pattern control paired with AVE’s solid design and installation. The guy understood every word in a concrete box! It’s astounding.’

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