A recent audio upgrade completed JCA Media using LEA Professional amplifiers now ensures that the ministry and music at Muldraugh Hill Baptist Church of Lebanon, Kentucky, are delivered clearly and vividly.

The town sits in the centre of the Bluegrass State, and is no stranger to exceptional music, as Lebanon was an entertainment hotspot for three decades through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. It has seen performances by Chuck Berry, BB King, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jerry Lee Lewis in its clubs. The nearly 150-year-old Muldraugh Hill is among many Baptist and other denominational churches in the area that are transforming the dynamic of their services through audio, video and lighting. As a partner to venues in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and many surrounding states, JCA Media has cornered the market in house of worship installations due to its capabilities, and ability to tune and tailor installations to the needs of each individual church.

‘We get tired of churches being sold things they don’t need,’ says Alex Peake, Project Manager for JCA Media, and A/V technician at his local church. ‘We give churches what they need – quality equipment and a well-executed installation. Not that I don’t love quality gear, but you can go overboard with it if you’re not doing the right thing.’

At Muldraugh Hill Baptist, the church was hampered by an aging audiovisual system in its sanctuary. The main projector was propped up by hymnals, affectionately called ‘shymnals,’ literally projecting on the wall from a laptop down in the front pew. The room had a centre loudspeaker cluster that didn’t cover the space adequately, and a choir monitor that hung 25ft from the choir, inviting reverberation from the walls.

‘We try to go into every install with the end goal in mind,’ Peake says. ‘We don’t want to lock you into a system that doesn’t allow room for growth, but at the same time, we want to give you a long-lasting system that will do the job well, fit your needs and grow with you.’

The audio portion of the installation used a Danley SM100B loudspeaker, two SH Minis, two Cubes, and four Nanos, all powered by LEA Professional 704 and 354 Network Connect Series Smart Amplifiers. An Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixer runs all audio, connected to Earthworks choir, pulpit, and piano mics fed into ACE Backstage stage pockets and six Audio-Technica wireless mics.

‘We were able to take a four-channel LEA 704 and Smart Power Bridge the first channel for the main Danley SM100B loudspeaker. Then we connected a channel per front fill, with a Cube on each side,’ Peake says. JCA’s team then used the fourth channel for the choir monitors and the four-channel LEA 354 powered the four stage monitors. ‘Both LEA amplifiers are connected to their network via a Luxul switch so that we can use the LEA cloud monitoring feature.’

‘I love the Smart Power Bridge function,’ he continues. ‘I can create a LCR configuration with a subwoofer on a single four-channel amp because I can Smart Power Bridge the sub on a single channel and then do the left, centre and right. That really helps in a lot of our layouts.’

LEA’s 704 and 354 Network Connect Series Smart Amplifiers, offering 700W/channel and 350W/channel respectively, are well-suited for small- to medium-scale installations like Muldraugh Hill Baptist. The two-, four- and eight-channel amplifiers feature HiZ (70V or 100V) or LoZ, selectable by channel. With three ways to connect, the church can engage the built-in Wi-Fi access point, connect to the venue’s Wi-Fi, or connect to any local area network via Cat5 or Cat6 cable.

LEA’s Network Connect Series is also the first amplifier family available to offer cloud connectivity, for easy troubleshooting and support from anywhere. ‘Being able to troubleshoot for a client remotely, sometimes three-and-a-half hours away, is a service we love to provide to our clients,’ Peake says.

The hills in Lebanon, Kentucky, are alive these days with the sound of music from Muldraugh Hill Baptist Church. The Pastor and congregants are thrilled with the new system, which helps bring renewed energy and life to weekly services and church activities. This installation is a perfect example of how even a small system with the right gear can be incredibly powerful yet simple. One person can easily run audio, lighting, projection and video from FOH

‘We are firm believers in doing it the right way with the right gear the first time, and we won’t install low-cost, low-quality products,’ Peake says. ‘Our names are on it, we take pride in our work, we love what we do, and we want it to be a lasting investment for churches as well.’