St Louis Parish installs Tectonic Plates

WORLD: Tectonic Audio Labs has collaborated with design/install firm Definitive Audio to tackle the perennial audio problems at St Louise Parish, a large and progressive US Catholic Church.

‘The existing loudspeaker solution was primarily based on three two-way 15-inch trapezoidal boxes in a center cluster,’ explained Dennis Schlossberg of Definitive Audio. ‘In order to fully cover this large and wide space, three separate systems were previously employed in total – the main centre cluster and two independent fill systems mounted on pillars and soffits throughout the sanctuary. Even with that, there were still dead areas, and overall system intelligibility was very poor.’

The solution selected by Definitive Audio and St Louise was a pair of Tectonic Plates per side flown over the chancel. ‘With this relatively simple installation, we solved for all issues,’ said Mr Schlossberg. ‘St Louise was able to remove all three previous speaker systems and consolidate all electronics into one simple and small electronics rack.’

‘There are many unique acoustic characteristics of the Tectonic Plates’ Distributed Mode Loudspeaker (DML) technology, and almost every one of them came into play with this installation,’ explained Dave Firestone, Tectonic CMO. ‘The very wide pattern of our speakers provided coverage to not only the back of the sanctuary, but to equally distant side spaces. The Tectonic Plates exhibited near linear output level in this large and wide space. We were able to provide an equal and comfortable stereo listening experience for every parishioner.’

‘Tectonic had a distinct advantage over other solutions by virtue of the fact that their speakers do not require a specifically engineered solution,’ said Mr Schlossberg. ‘Tectonic was able to raise a demo system on portable lifts and deliver over 90 per cent of the performance of a finished installation. They proved the system’s performance over a four day period and some 10 services; on demand and with no cost or impact to the Parish. No other manufacturer could have done that.’

‘St Louise provides a ministry that is active and diverse,’ said Jonathan Taasan, parish administrator. ‘We needed a sound system that could be respectful of traditional expectations and then seamlessly scale up to meet the needs of our growing contemporary worship services. The Tectonic System has met all of our needs and then some!’

www.definitive.com
www.tectonicaudiolabs.com
www.stlouise.org