Advanced Audio Video Technologies Retrofit Sound System at The Pentecostal Church with JBL and CrownThe Pentecostal Church in DeQuincy, Louisiana required an upgrade to its sound system, and with a change from a center cluster long overdue, pastor Wayne Neyland turned to Sulphur, Louisiana systems integrator Advanced Audio Video Technologies (www.advancedav.biz) and Harman's JBL VerTec line arrays and Crown amplifiers to bring the sanctuary's sound up to date. Not that the church rushed to make up for lost time, they contacted Advanced after asking around and getting a referral from another church in town. "Although the sanctuary only seats 700, the church wanted the best, and we were determined to provide it, so I took my time with the design to make sure we got it exactly right," said Advanced owner Ethan Miller. The pastor and church personnel demoed several different models from various manufacturers and Miller had many conversations with Brad Ricks at Harman about recommended speaker selection and placement. "As soon as the pastor heard the JBL VerTec VT4886 subcompact line array loudspeaker he said, 'that's the speaker'," noted Miller. Advanced went with 16 VT4886 subcompact line array elements, eight per side flown from the left and right of the pulpit to cover the floor and balcony of the sanctuary. In addition, two JBL PRX418S and two JBL ASB6125 subwoofers were installed and will be moved under the platform on either side during a planned remodelling project. Four Crown I-Tech 9000HD series amplifiers drive the speakers. Completing the system are a Soundcraft Vi1 digital console and Compact Stagebox. "Even though I know the loudspeakers and amps are designed to work together, I have to say that this was an easy project," Miller stated. "We worked closely with Ricks and Harman from the very beginning in engineering the system, and the extra time we took up front paid big dividends. The Crown amplifiers are very easy to use and the fact that they're optimized to work with JBL VerTec line arrays really saved on system setup and tuning." In fact, during one point in the process, one of the amplifiers indicated that one of the loudspeakers had a different impedance than it was supposed to have. It turned out that one of the loudspeakers wasn't connected properly. "The Crown's built-in monitoring enabled us to figure out the problem and correct it immediately," Miller said. In some cases, however, there's nothing like a person's experience and ears: "When we first set up the system the loudspeakers were dead-on in covering the seating area, but there was a bit more sound coming off the walls than we liked. All we had to do was turn the loudspeakers in a few degrees and the sound went from good to superb." "The VerTecs work beautifully in this space -- far from being overkill, the clarity and headroom are outstanding and the system can handle anything without the slightest hint of strain. The overall sound is nothing less than amazing." 
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