Meyer Sound LEO Family the Choice for Three Southeastern Churches

Exceptional speech clarity and effortless musical transparency have made Meyer Sound LEO Family loudspeaker systems the choice for two fast-growing churches in Georgia and another in Florida.

Christ Place Church in the Atlanta exurb of Flowery Branch recently completed construction of a new 2,000-seat worship auditorium. The complete AVL technology package, featuring a Meyer Sound LYON line array system, was provided by Production/Co of nearby Chestnut Mountain, Georgia under the direction of vice president Dustin Whitt.

The key decision-maker on the church side, production director Robert Boley, devoted considerable time to research and listening sessions before choosing a LYON solution. "As a house of worship, our number one priority is speech intelligibility," he states. "In our listening sessions we would listen to a variety of worship music, but when it came time to run the pastor's voice through the Meyer Sound system, it was an 'oh, wow, that's the one' moment for me. I was sold immediately."

The new structure for Christ Place was designed to allow for easy expansion to 3,500 seats by building out from the back wall. This possibility was another factor tilting toward a LYON solution.

"We were originally looking at Meyer Sound's LEOPARD boxes, but then Dustin Whitt showed us how with LYON we could simply add a box or two per side, adjust the splay angles, tweak the processing and we would be good to go," says Boley. "We won't have to replace the whole PA or hang delays."

The Christ Place system is built around two arrays of seven-each LYON line array loudspeakers with four 1,100-LFC low frequency control elements for deep bass. Also included are four UPQ-2P fill speakers, two GALAXY 816 processors and RMServer for comprehensive real-time monitoring.

Boley also explains how the linearity and transparency of the Meyer Sound system allowed the church to save a considerable sum on broadcast facilities. "We do a live stream of our services, and one thing that helps greatly with Meyer is that the system is so transparent that the house mix translates very well into broadcast. That was huge for us, as we saved money on a separate broadcast console, and also I don't always have an A2 or A3 available to do a dedicated broadcast mix."

Since opening day the new system has supported a number of the church's own special events as well as guest concerts by Christian guest artists such as Tim Hawkins and Phil Wickham. "Everybody here from the senior pastor on down is extremely pleased with what they are hearing. They didn't realize how much difference a good loudspeaker system could make," reports Boley.

12Stone Church, also in the metro Atlanta area, is quickly transforming its multiple portable campuses into permanent worship auditoriums. Three of the 12Stone sites, including the central campus in Lawrenceville, are equipped with Meyer Sound LEOPARD line array systems, with a fourth LEOPARD system coming soon to a renovation underway at Hamilton Mill. Two smaller sites are equipped with Meyer Sound point-source systems.

The latest 12Stone LEOPARD installation, again by Production/Co under the direction of Whitt, is at the new Buford campus.

"LEOPARD was the perfect choice here because of the room size combined with the consistency of Meyer Sound products and our familiarity with them," says 12Stone production director Taylor Davis. "Also, as ceiling load capacity is always a limiting factor, we can rely on LEOPARD's high power-to-weight ratio to deliver exceptional performance with a low ceiling payload."

The new system comprises five per side LEOPARD arrays, two UPJ-1P fill loudspeakers, three 1100-LFC elements in a flown cardioid configuration, one GALAXY 816 processor and an RMServer.

"LEOPARD's natural clarity with spoken word along with its ability to provide a full, enveloping mix at relatively low SPL appeals to the wide range of people attending worship here," notes Davis. "We can provide the high energy environment younger generations are seeking while maintaining a comfortable level everyone can enjoy."

Further to the southeast, in Naples, Florida, the First Baptist Church has also equipped its remodeled worship auditorium with Meyer Sound LEOPARD line array loudspeakers. Here, the complete AVL upgrade package was designed and installed by Springfield, Missouri-based Paragon 360 under the guidance of audio designer Mark Coble.

The main system is anchored by 18 LEOPARD line array loudspeakers augmented by three 1100-LFC elements for low frequency support. Fill systems utilize UPQ-2P, UPQ-1P, UPA-1P, and UPJ-1P loudspeakers while 24 miniature MM-4XP loudspeakers are deployed throughout the choir seating area as close proximity monitors.

"Sound for us was priority one," says executive pastor John David Edie. "It was a tough deal to make sure this room could fit everybody's needs. But the Meyer Sound system installed by Paragon 360, along with the acoustical treatments they put in, has made this one of the best sounding rooms I've ever been in. We've had traveling concerts by recording artists come in here who brought along their own sound systems. But when they heard our system, they left their own systems out in their trailers."

First Baptist Church Naples and Paragon 360 were honored as winners of a 2018 Solomon Award for Design and Installation of AVL Systems in a Major Technology Upgrade.