Powersoft Drives Northside Baptist Church

	Northside Baptist Church in Huntsville, Texas

In the time since it was established in 1983, Northside Baptist Church (NBC) in Huntsville, Texas, has grown from a small group of people meeting in a living room to its current membership of 1,600. With construction now complete on its new home, the church's management decided that it would need an audio system that could match the quality of such grand surroundings.

"Since it was a new construction project, we didn't know what the best fit for the space would be, regarding the sound system," comments Bob Slie, media director at NBC. "Our worship pastor and I attended WFX 2019 in Orlando, Florida, as they had almost a dozen audio manufacturers come in and set up in the same space, which allowed us to compare the different systems impartially.

"We were absolutely blown away by TW Audio's then-new ELLA system, which was powered by Powersoft amplifier platforms. We met with Mick Whelan from TW Audio and began a relationship that would take us a year and a half down the road to their first US installation in a church with ELLA and Powersoft."

Slie contacted local company, Arrendell Media, to supply and install the system. The company's owner, Brian Arrendell, liaised with both Whelan and Slie in order to ensure that the system was installed to the exact specifications sent from TW Audio.

"We also had Rick Woida from Powersoft come in to help complete the installation by setting everything up and tuning the system along with Mick," adds Slie. "They spent three days with us getting everything set perfectly, including having our band come in on the final day to put the system through its paces. This final step of having someone here from each of the two companies was integral to getting the sound we required."

Whelan and his team from TW Audio designed the ELLA6 system for the church's sanctuary space. The PA consisted of 22 x ELLA6 speakers and six VERA S32i directional subwoofers hung in the center of the room to provide the low-end energy for the space. The design for the room was a main array of eight speakers per side, as well as two ELLA6 speakers hung below the subwoofers as a centre-fill for the first couple of rows. There was also a pair of ELLA6 speakers installed on the far left and right walls as out-fills get the clarity and vocal intelligibility to those seats.

"It was Mick from TW Audio who chose Powersoft," says Arrendell. "This was our first experience using Powersoft and I have to say that these amplifiers are amazing. Their capabilities and the built-in monitoring features are great. Of course, I love all of the bells and whistles, but the actual sound of a system is always the determining factor in a product choice for me."