Tracing its roots to 1924, East 91st Christian Church in Indianapolis, IN has emerged as one of Indiana's most noteworthy houses of worship. That reputation has been aided by the sheer size of the sanctuary itself, built large enough to house the largest Schantz pipe organ in the Hoosier State. With size have come problems, though, particularly as the church has added more contemporary services.
That was the reality that greeted the church's incoming creative programming minister, Don Smith, and the sound expert he consulted early last year, Chip Sams, principal consultant at William Sams Acoustics of Orlando, FL. On seeing the facility, Sams concurred with Smith's assessment that the building was an "acoustical and systems nightmare." Nevertheless, Sams accepted the challenge.
Sound Physics Labs B-DEAP 32 bass speakers, deployed on the ground in two arrays of two each, proved to be an answer to vexing low-frequency acoustic problems that were inherent in the architecture. The SPL-Runt, another Sound Physics product, provided an upgrade for a pair of flown balcony delay speakers which could not sufficiently control sound dispersion at mid-range frequencies in a large, reverberant space.
Sams also took the opportunity to install a new wireless system, selecting the Lectrosonics Venue system. The initial Lectrosonics package purchased by the church included the Venue receiver system. For transmitters, Sams specified six UM400 belt-pack units with Countryman E6 ear-clip microphones.
