For over a decade, Fletcher North Carolina’s Trinity of Fairview Baptist Church has used a number of loudspeaker design approaches and systems in search of their perfect sound. The church entrusted B&R Audio founder/owner, Bruce Jensen, to design and install a sound system capable of taming their elegant yet acoustically challenging, octagonal sanctuary.
Precise pattern control was essential to keep sound energy off hard reflective surfaces. Compact loudspeakers with high output and exceptional clarity were also required to support a dynamic worship band, as well as intelligible spoken word.
“Trinity’s unconventional layout, exposed wooden roof, and glass and plaster surfaces make for a very acoustically live room,” explained Bruce. “Complicating matters, the stage takes up a third of the sanctuary’s floor space, and the angled walls behind it act as a parabolic reflector due to lack of proper acoustic treatment in the church.”
Bruce utilised the eight laminated wood beams branching out from the octagonal room’s 40-foot high apex as locating points for his sound system design. Three Fulcrum FH1596 full-range, high-sensitivity coaxial horns with 90° x 60° dispersion are rigged from beams in an expanded left/centre/right mono cluster for optimal room coverage. A single downward-firing Fulcrum CX1295 12-inch coaxial speaker with a 90° x 45° horn is centred behind the cluster to serve as a choir monitor.
“Trinity’s worship band tends to play louder than one might expect from a traditional Baptist church, averaging between 96 and 100 dB,” said Bruce. “The FH15 horns and CX12 coax give us all the headroom we could possibly need for the full band and choir.”
“My history with David Gunness predates his co-founding Fulcrum Acoustic in 2008,” stated Bruce. “His innovative use of DSP as an integral part of the design process has revolutionised our industry. When Fulcrum released the FH Series of coaxial horn systems as a DSP-aware update to the traditional horn-in-horn coaxial loudspeaker concept, I trusted they’d get it right. I specified FH horns for Trinity before even hearing them, and couldn’t be more pleased. The FH horns’ output and sonic character make them sound like studio monitors on steroids.”
“Trinity of Fairview Baptist Church loves the new system’s sound quality and uniform coverage,” concluded Bruce. “They’ve finally found the sound they’ve been waiting to hear for years.”
