With its congregation growing beyond the capacity of its original location, leaders of Heritage Apostolic Church in Holy Springs, Massachussetts, decided to build a new sanctuary to fit their modern worship style. The sound system installed by Simon Productions needed to address multiple levels of seating and a large, open space, requiring strict pattern control to concentrate sound on the congregation. In addition, the location and shallow depth of the altar required broadband directional control of sound energy.

The new church is an open, two-storey space with tiered seating along the stairways on either side. The stairways lead to a small balcony that wraps around the back of the room with two rows of seating. When designing the church, extra care was put into acoustics – room geometries were developed to reduce standing waves while padded chairs and carpeting helped to reduce reverberation.

Terry Stewart from Simon Productions flew 16 Fulcrum Acoustic FL283T Dual 8-inch Subcardioid Line Array Modules in two separate arrays of eight on either side of the altar as the main loudspeakers. The FL283T provides the throw and tight vertical dispersion needed to distribute uniform coverage to the floor, stairway, and balcony seats without energising the full vertical expanse of the space.

Fulcrum Acoustic’s Passive Cardioid Technology controls the rear low frequency radiation in the FL283Ts thereby providing the broadband control needed for the project. Additionally FW15 Coaxial Cardioid Stage Monitors were selected for use on the altar. The Passive Cardioid feature allows the FW15s to provide precise control, resulting in better separation for different monitor mixes and better control of off-axis spill.

Stewart installed four Fulcrum US221-2 Dual 21-inch Direct Radiating Subwoofers directly into the front of the altar in their own insulated wall niches. Two of the US221-2s were coupled in the centre of the room while the other two were deployed on either side

The wide dispersion of the S Dual 8-inch Coaxial Loudspeakers allowed three of them to provide front fill for congregants approaching the altar. This area is otherwise outside of the coverage of the main FL283T arrays. The coaxial drivers of the S loudspeakers provide stable, high fidelity imaging at close range, which is ideal for their placement at the lip of the altar.

The loudspeaker system is driven by Linea Acoustic power amplifiers and served by an Allen & Heath Avantis mixing desk.

‘We are absolutely thrilled with the sound of this Fulcrum system,’ says Pastor Kyle Flowers. ‘We had lots of guests from different churches that came to be with us for our first service and everyone was remarking on the clarity and high quality.’