Two Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) sound reinforcement systems have been installed at the First Baptist Burleson, located in Texas for use in their traditional sanctuary and their contemporary multi-purpose worship space, named three1seven.
First Baptist Burleson Technical Director JimBob Brown worked closely with Tim LaPrade from Pro Audio, a Texas-based distributor and systems integrator in Grand Prairie, Texas, to design and install the new systems. “When I came on board the church had recently installed a system in the sanctuary that just wasn’t getting the job done,” explains JimBob. “It was the wrong system for the space with poor coverage of the room. It got to the point where they decided to do something about it when I joined the organisation, so I contacted Tim LaPrade at Pro Audio to see what our options were.”
The original church sanctuary is a traditional, rectangular-shaped room with seating for 500. Stained glass, tapestries, along with plenty of brick, uneven stone and hard surfaces dominate the room. “Unlike many traditional sanctuaries, the room is quite dead, exactly what you would want,” explains JimBob. “The unevenness of the stonework and the tapestry does a great job of diffusing sound. Our problem was not reverberance, our problem was coverage. We started the process with a thorough site survey and ultimately determined that a point source system was the solution. Tim recommended we utilise EAW QX loudspeakers for their clarity and coverage.”
Tim worked with the EAW Application Engineering team to confirm that the design he specified would provide the coverage they required. The new sanctuary system is made up of left/right hangs of two QX596i loudspeakers hung 32-ft up. Two more QX394s are utilised for delay fills for additional balcony coverage. Two SB528z subwoofers, stacked in the left and right corners of the room providing the low end the services require. “When the installation was complete, everyone was absolutely delighted,” adds Tim. “The room is blanketed with even, high quality sound that provides musicality and vocal intelligibility. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t long after this was done that they started talking about upgrading their multi-purpose room as well.”
Like the traditional sanctuary, three1seven seats 500 but the space is wider than it is deep and features a stage, video screens and an exposed ceiling. Not only is the room used for services but it was also designed to accommodate community events, lecture series and concerts, a true multi-purpose facility. Unfortunately, the existing system was inadequate for their needs. When church management decided to fix that problem, JimBob and Tim went directly to EAW to see what solution they could provide. “We had such a good experience the first time that we got back in touch and said, “This is our budget, this is the space and this is what we need it for, what do you suggest?” adds JimBob. Also, “They quickly turned around a system based on the RADIUS Series which sounded terrific and would be flexible enough for the space. In addition, I really liked that RADIUS offers Dante integration which meant it would work seamlessly with the other components already installed in that room and with the main sanctuary (also Dante). All in all, it was a win-win.”
The RADIUS system is made up of left/right hangs of eight RSX208L 3-way line arrays, 16 total and four RSX12 subwoofers, hung two per side behind the arrays. System optimisation, design and prediction are all accessed and controlled via the easy-to-use EAWmosaic app, making setup or modifications simple for end-users. “I really could not be happier with the end result or my experience with the EAW team,” concludes JimBob. “The feedback from the membership has been terrific and everyone is extremely pleased. The difference between the old systems and the new is night and day, it has been a great experience.”
