When The Brooklyn Tabernacle relocated to its current building in the heart of downtown 21 years ago, its three-cluster PA system served it well. Passing years have seen the need for an upgrade grow increasingly strong, and recently the multicultural, non-denominational megachurch found a solution to its needs in EAW’s ADAPTive System, featuring Anna loudspeakers and Otto subwoofers.
The Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation has grown from a handful of people toaround 10,000 who attend weekly services. It is also home to the world-renowned 270-voice choir, which has recorded three videos, three DVDs and numerous albums, winning five Dove Awards and six Grammys.
‘Our original system was an EAW rig designed by [technology design, acoustic design company and theatre consultant] Idibri MD, Craig Janssen, more than 20 years ago,’ says Brooklyn Tabernacle A/V administrator, Michael Archibald. ‘One of the main components of the original project with Idibri was to acoustically treat the room. Craig and Idibri also consulted on the design of the new PA system. They helped us through the selection process. We were looking for a system that would not only give us the coverage, but also the energy.’
Early in the process, Harold Rubens, afriend of Archibald’s and a veteran FOH engineer, who recommended theADAPTive System and a split array design for the room. ‘Harold has been working indirectly with our church and choir for a long time and really knew our room and our needs,’ Archibald says. ‘His confidence in the system to be able to meet our design needs was a big part of our decision.
‘I met with a sales rep from EAW and he was very helpful throughout the entire process. After hearing the EAW ADAPTive system, the choice was clear. Once we had the design and speaker selection, the wonderful team at Clair Solutions was brought in to do the integration.’
One of the most important factors in The Brooklyn Tabernacle’s speaker choice was touse the venue’s existing hang points. ‘Our old system was hung from a ground-supported steel beam structure because there is no steel to hang any arrays,’ adds Archibald. ‘Each split array consists of five Annas with four Ottos in the middle and four Annas below. By being able to use the existing hang points, we were able to save a lot of money without compromising on sound quality.’
Due to a very large acoustic space, the room presented some unique design challenges. ‘We have a massive balcony that has the front row approximately 60ft from the stage and the back row approximately 160 feet from stage,’ says Archibald. ‘Equally as challenging from a coverage perspective is our under-balcony area, which starts at 60ft from the stage and goes back to approximately 120ft back. All the while, the FOH mix position is about 50ft from the stage in a huge open part of the room. The ADAPTive cabinets gave us the solution with its steering capabilities and is able to cover all the different spaces with equal coverage and energy with a lot less cabinets then other manufacturers.
‘With EAW ADAPTive, there is not a bad seat in the large room. Our sanctuary holds 3,800 seats, and yet it feels very intimate. The best way I can describe our new system is when you sit in our sanctuary it feels like you have a pair of studio monitors right in front of you.
‘Because of Covid-19, we had to tune the room virtually. John Mills from EAW was able to tune the room remotely with the Clair Solution crew, which was very cool. We are extremely happy with the entire process, the final results and the teams at EAW, Harold Rubens, Idibri and Clair Solutions. The EAW ADAPTive system is amazing and a perfect fit for our space and needs.’
In addition to upgrading its loudspeaker system, the church has swapped its old FOH console for a Yamaha PM7 and its monitor console for a Yamaha CL5, both operating on the room’s Dante network.
