QSC Wears Well at Simon Temple

May 5, 2005 5:57 PM

A low ceiling and tight budget failed to stop the Simon Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Fayetteville, N.C., from upgrading its sanctuary sound recently, thanks to an audio blueprint based around QSC's MD Series loudspeakers. The design was implemented by the pro audio arm of Edwards Music Company, a local firm known for conquering audio challenges in houses of worship large and small.

In the case of Simon Temple, how low can a sanctuary ceiling go? "How about down to 13ft., 11in.?" imparts Mark Autry, Edwards' man-on-the-spot who regularly guides the process of giving better voice to praise teams, choirs, and music ministries of all denominations. "Normally we'd avoid using a flown system at that height, but in this case we had no choice. There simply wasn't enough space on the ground to do the job the church needed done."

Known for embracing a high-energy worship style easily capable of reaching and maintaining concert levels, the Simon Temple congregation necessarily expects a lot from its audio system. "High performance obviously occupied a prominent spot on our list of design criteria," Autry says. "As did aesthetic presentation. Coverage was equally important across all of the sanctuary's 699 seats. Obtaining all these things within the context of the low ceiling was a real challenge."

While searching for a full-range solution that met all of the church's needs, monetarily and otherwise, Autry came across QSC's MD Series loudspeakers. Ultimately choosing a pair of two-way MD-F152/64r 60 degreex40 degree enclosures with rotatable horn sections and a pair of MD-L118 18in. low-frequency cabinets for the project, Autry found he was able to fly the rig as required, meet performance objectives, and acquire the coverage he needed, all without breaking the bank.

"Using the rotatable horn sections found in the two-way MD boxes, we were able to quickly adapt the system to the room to obtain the coverage we needed in virtually every seat," Autry points out. "Flying the boxes at such a low height wasn't a problem either, again because of the rotatable horn sections, and the pitch of the trapezoidal MD cabinet design, which allowed us to mount the enclosures directly above the stage much closer to the ceiling than if we had tried to use a standard rectangular box."

Relying upon QSC amplification across the board derived from a combination of legacy gear and new components including CX and PLX Series products, the system was designed jointly by Autry, Edwards Music Chief Installation Technician Mike Rhodes, and Tommy DuBose of ATGI, QSC's South Carolina-based rep firm.

"The sound of the system is what really made a believer out of me," Autry says, commenting on the rig's performance now that it's been up and running almost three months. "In a sense, this was almost an audio take on the classic Cinderella story. We had to search high and low to find a shoe that fit. It took some looking, but we did it, and now I'm happy to say the end result sounds good, and is aesthetically pleasing as well."