Ashly Audio Processing and Amplification Maximize Value for New Christ Baptist Church Sanctuary

	Christ Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina

Christ Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina branched off of nearby Providence Baptist Church. For many years, Christ Baptist used a converted office building as their worship center until funds could be raised to build a sanctuary that would serve the needs of the fledgling church for decades to come. That time arrived recently, and now Christ Baptist Church has a 1,200-seat sanctuary with a 150-seat choir. A/V integration firm Provision Audio/Video Services of Rolesville, North Carolina designed and installed a first-rate sound reinforcement system for the new sanctuary, relying on Ashly Audio amplifiers and processing, along with a custom Ashly GUI to give the church reliable, high-performance audio for the long haul.

"Christ Baptist Church is a very traditional Baptist church," said John Linden, managing owner of Provision AVS. "Their music is primarily orchestral and choral with a sixteen voice organ. The church wanted an appropriate acoustic space to support their worship style." A digital snake from the stage feeds a DiGiCo SD9 digital console at front-of-house. The main sound reinforcement system is comprised of a pair of Renkus Heinz ICLive-Dual steerable column arrays. Two Danley TH-212 subwoofers provide deep low-end support while simultaneously delivering "tight low-end that punches," in the words of Linden. A pair of Ashly KLR-3200 dual-channel amplifiers, each running in bridged mono mode, power the subwoofers.

"We went with Ashly amplification based on its sound quality and value," said Linden. "They have a low-noise floor and clean output. Ashly's great range of options and formats, including big, beefy amps like the KLR-3200 allowed us to order the power we need. On Ashly's ne Amplifiers, we can add DSP as needed and specify the input configuration. The ne Series includes networking capability. It's like having a huge menu of options, and we can pick exactly the right combination of features so as to maximize system performance at the minimum cost. Reliability is also a factor. In the many years we've been using them, we've had very few problems. In fact, we have never had an Ashly amp fail."

Two Ashly ne8800 Protea DSPs provide all of the necessary processing for the main system. To complement the formats on the upstream devices, one is outfitted with standard analog inputs, whereas the other is outfitted with AES/EBU digital inputs. One ne8800 handles all of the processing requirements for the main system, including the subwoofers. The other handles all of the processing requirements for the floor monitors and satellite systems. "The sound quality on the Ashly processors is impeccable; they're very musical," said Linden. "They're easy to program and operate and are a remarkable value for the church." In addition to input control at the DiGiCo console, the front-of-house operator can remotely control the Ashly DSP via multiple pages of intuitive, custom GUIs that determine the operation of the main system and the various systems that support it.

Four K-array KV50 miniature column loudspeakers powered by an Ashly ne800 amplifier provide front- and side-fill for the main system. Thirty-three 70V SoundTube SM31 loudspeakers cover the choir loft. An Ashly ne8250.70pe not only provides power, its optional on-board DSP allowed Provision to custom tailor the frequency and dynamic response across eight separate zones in the choir loft. Similarly, an Ashly ne4250.70pe amplifier with optional DSP controls an overflow system in the adjoining Fellowship Hall. Finally, a pair of Ashly KLR-2000 amplifiers powers the smaller systems in the adjacent choir room and the gathering hall.