Community Loudspeakers at First Lutheran, Ellicott City, Maryland

	First Evangelical Lutheran, in Ellicott City, Maryland, recently upgraded its sound system with gear from Community Professional Loudspeakers.

First Evangelical Lutheran, in Ellicott City, Maryland (just outside Baltimore), recently upgraded its sound system with gear from Community Professional Loudspeakers.

The octagonal-shaped sanctuary is acoustically challenging. Designed to feature the church's pipe organ and choir, the building's wood and glass ceiling, brick walls and rock and tile floor create a reflective environment that wreaks havoc with spoken word intelligibility.

Once the problems were identified, the church turned to Frederick, Maryland-based Audio-Video Group, who designed and installed a system based around Community Professional Loudspeakers' Solutions Series SLS920 three-way high performance loudspeakers. A ring of eight SLS920 cabinets flown over the stage provides consistent, even coverage to the entire sanctuary.

"The system covers every seat, with no dead zones," says senior pastor Eugene Kern. "The sound is clear, and volume is controlled electronically. Intelligibility is vastly improved, and we are able to expand our inputs to two, three, six, or even seven microphones just by turning a knob. The automation is an unexpected plus -- we come in on Sunday morning, turn on the system, and we're ready to go. We no longer have to rely on volunteers to turn knobs and adjust levels."

As is often the case, aesthetics also played a key role in the system design. "When this sanctuary was completed in the mid-1990s, it won awards for its design - it really is a special place," says Kern. "The original sound system, which I'm told was state-of-the-art for its time, was designed to make the loudspeakers look like light fixtures. In fact, visitors sometimes commented on how many lights were out in the sanctuary. But while it was interesting from a visual perspective, it wasn't very effective, and AVG's engineers made it clear that the best solution was a radically different approach, with a ring of speakers projecting out toward the pews. The new system sounds great, and you can hear clearly from every seat."

Kern gives high marks to the AVG crew as well. "Eric Johnson and his team were a great fit for us," he says. "They understand church - what goes on here, and what the needs are across multiple generations. They really listened to us, and took the time to get to the root of the issues affecting us. They offered us the best solution, and stood behind it with integrity, competence and professionalism."