With 31 campuses across South Africa, Every Nation Church has its largest in N1 City, Goodwood, in Cape Town, which is its de facto HQ. Recently the church commissioned a re-model of one of the existing halls, with Church Production awarded the tender and providing consultation and assistance during the project.
The church required a comprehensive audio system combined with upgraded visuals, and selected a turnkey solution from Stage Audio Works. SAW supplied and integrated an end-to-end audio-visual solution using their own brands, alongside a Plus Audio line array and Pixel Plus LED wall to better highlight the proceedings on stage.
As ever, audio was an extremely significant aspect of the install: ‘It was vital that the sound system delivered a spectrum of high-quality audio during praise and worship segments, as well as assuring clear and consistent reproduction within the vocal domain, for more typical services,’ explains N1’s Senior Pastor, Gilian Davids.
‘Speech intelligibility and seat-to-seat coverage were key factors. It is important that the experience is the same for all attendees.’
‘In a market flooded with products, it has become blatant that one cannot, and should not, invest in equipment merely based on price,’ agrees Director of Church Production, Mark Gaffley. ‘While the bottom line is always a factor, there are a number of other non-tangibles which need to be considered alongside it.’
After discussions between Gaffley and SAW’s Nathan Ihlenfeldt, it became clear that SAW had the solution to handle the client’s audio requirements in the form of the Plus Audio offering: ‘Nathan assisted in designing a line array system comprising eight 9-inch L109i speaker elements per side, along with two 15-inch L115Bi sub bass cabinets per hang,’ Gaffley explains. ‘Two 21-inch L121B subs were flown in a centre array, and we added six 8-inch C8 loudspeaker cabinets as front fill. A combination of 12A amplifiers and D48 processors provide audio manage and drive the system.
‘One of the great advantages of this system is its power to weight/size ratio. Once the PA was fired up, it was astonishing to hear the massive sound emanating from a 9-inch cabinet – it completely filled the room.’
On the visual side of the installation, the 9m-high ceiling lent itself to the use of an LED centre screen. ‘We opted for the Pixel Plus indoor screen, with a 2.5mm pixel pitch,’ Gaffley says. ‘Having installed a few of these in the past, we were extremely comfortable that the screen would more than deliver on the client’s requirements.’
Church Production also supplied two Blackmagic 4k professional studio quality cameras, enhancing Every Nation Church N1’s streaming and broadcast capabilities.
The house/architectural lighting was also a vital component of the project. ‘The interior designer and church leadership sought to create a space with a friendly and comfortable atmosphere conducive to praise and worship, while providing adequate white lighting during the services,’ Gaffley says. ‘We considered various options, including typical architectural fixtures and high-power LED Par Cans but eventually decided that SAW’s own StagePlus LED solution was best suited to the job.’
‘In all truth, we could not be happier with the result,’ Gaffley reports. ‘It’s a great system, checking all the boxes – performance, coverage, intelligibility, size, and all of that at a very competitive and reasonable price.
‘Over the many years that we’ve worked with the team at Stage Audio Works, I must honestly say that we’ve seen the rewards of that partnership. We’ve had access to a great range of relevant products, enjoyed unquestionable support, and an overall sense of a painless installation process.’
More: www.stageaudioworks.com
