Under the leadership of Pastor Tim and Kristal Stair, Elevate Life Church (ELC) is a contemporary, non-denominational house of worship. With contemporary services where music is an integral component of the worship experience, the ability to understand the message is crucial. This is why the church recently invested in X2 line arrays and TL118SS subwoofers drawn from the WorxAudio catalog of PreSonus Audio Electronics of Baton Rouge, LA. The equipment purchase was coordinated through Guitar Centre Professional.
Jeff Aldrich is the Executive Producer at the church’s Orange Park, FL location. Among his numerous responsibilities with the church, he is a production lead and student in ELC’s Elevate Leadership Academy, who are tasked with load in, setup, operation, and load out of the equipment for Sunday services, which take place at Orange Park High School. He discussed the challenges of building a mobile church each week.
“Being that services are held at Orange Park High School, we’ve become very efficient at converting the gymnasium into a sanctuary,” Jeff explained. “Our services are very contemporary, and music plays a prominent role in helping us glorify God. The space is a standard basketball court with a domed ceiling. Since we move the equipment each week, we needed an efficient sound system that wouldn’t be overwhelming to transport. That led us to the PreSonus WorxAudio X2T-P compact line arrays and the TL118SST-P sub bass enclosures.”
According to Jeff, the church uses a portable stage that measures 40 feet by 16 feet. The two WorxAudio X2 enclosures are positioned left and right of the stage, mounted on Global Truss crank stands at a height of 15 feet. The two TL118SS subwoofers are positioned beneath the stage—also left and right. The entire setup is adorned in 300 feet of acoustic absorbent drape. The stage also accommodates a 16 by 9-foot Draper screen with rear projection provided by a Christie Laser projector.
When queried about those aspects of the WorxAudio X2 line arrays and TL118SS subwoofers that made them so well suited to this application, Aldrich offered the following. “First and foremost, the sound quality from this system is exceptional,” he said. “Equally important, the X2’s unusually broad horizontal dispersion and the programmable DSP enables the system to provide clear, even coverage from side to side and front to back. The sound is remarkably consistent no matter where one happens to be seated. The TL118SS subs compliment the tops with a wonderful dispersion of tight, solid, low-end wave forms. The combination of these two loudspeaker systems makes for a great experience—and not at the expense of ear fatigue. Speech intelligibility is excellent, and the music is rich and clear.”
Due to the inherent challenges involved in making a mobile church setup function effectively and consistently, Jeff Aldrich and others had questions during their search for the right sound reinforcement equipment. Aldrich summarised his experience with the PreSonus Commercial Audio Division’s customer and technical support services, “My experience with the PreSonus crew was great right from the start.
PreSonus Technical Sales agent Jon Taylor calculated the measurement of the room and was able to visibly display the system’s dispersion, which enabled us to visualise the coverage in advance. It was really reassuring to know that the system would cover the space and work the way we envisioned. To ensure everything went according to plan, both Jon and PreSonus Commercial Division Director Tony Flammia were both available via phone the first time we set up the PA. In short, the company’s support is first rate.
