Orlando Megachurch Selects Turbosound for New Campus

The new campus of Orlando's Faith Assembly of God Church was a huge project. In addition to the 3,000-seat, stadium-style sanctuary, the campus also needed sound systems for three kids theaters, a wedding chapel, choir room, and atrium. Primary AV contractor Encore Broadcast Solutions decided to leave nothing to chance, partnering with Atlantic Professional Audio as audio sub-contractor for the design and installation.

"Even though it was new construction, we were actually the second contractor on the job, so we had to design the sound system around conduit and fly points that were already in place," explains Jeff Cameron of Encore's Winter Springs, FL office. "It was a big challenge. We've partnered successfully with Atlantic Pro Audio on several other projects, and brought them in to provide a turnkey solution. They put together a shootout for the church to decide on the best sound system, which turned out to be a Turbosound Flex array. It was a perfect fit." The speaker hangs consist of two six-speaker Turbosound Flex arrays, augmented by a pair of four-box delay arrays. "Ideally, we would have covered the entire room with just two longer arrays, but it was critical that the loudspeakers not interfere with line of sight for the video system," explains Craig Beyrooti, CEO of Atlantic Professional Audio, located in Altamonte Springs. "Fortunately, the Flex system lives up to its name, so we were able to meet the church's requirements. I've also always loved the way Turbosound keeps the vocals sounding natural, which is a really important benefit in contemporary worship."

Media director Jonathan Perez of Faith Assembly agrees: "We wanted our system to sound great with music but also for voice. The goal was to sound just as great in quiet moments as it does in concert. In the demo, when they raised that fader up, there was no coloration from the quietest moments to the loudest. That was what we loved about Turbosound. There's consistency and clarity between how it sounds at low volume and up high."

All the sanctuary arrays consist of Turbosound's TCS-1061 three-way loudspeakers, with the 75-degree dispersion version occupying the bottom two slots in each array, and 100-degree models above them. The TCS-1061 is switchable between bi-amp and tri-amp deployment, and houses two 10" low-mid drivers, one 6.5" high-mid, and a 1" high frequency compression driver on a Dendritic horn.

Frontfill duties are handled by Turbosound's NuQ line, with a pair of biamped NuQ-8s flanked by four more passive NuQ-6 boxes to ensure solid yet unobtrusive coverage for the front rows. Sidefills came from its Aspect line, with one TA-500 and TA-500HM flown alongside the Flex arrays to provide full-range coverage for the side seating areas. A total of 17 RACKDP-50 amplifiers are networked to power and control the sanctuary sound system, using the BV-Net-USB to optimize performance of all individual components as a cohesive whole.

The sound signature is completed by the company's subwoofers, with a pair of TSW-218 subs housed under the stage, complemented by nine TFA-600L units flown above. "Unfortunately, putting all the subs under the stage wasn't really an option," notes Beyrooti. "Since they use the same 18" driver, the TFA-600L delivers the same cohesive, full-range sound to every seat in the house. That sonic consistency across the range, from Flex to Aspect to NuQ, is one of the biggest advantages of designing with Turbosound. It also lends a consistent voice to all the other rooms as well."

APA's vice president of Integration, Michael Ramey, oversaw the integration. "This was a challenging design scenario, largely due to deployment requirements in the sanctuary," he says. "We worked directly with Turbosound in the UK to optimize the sanctuary using EASE modeling, then value-engineered a series of systems that met the specific audio requirements of all the other rooms. Turbosound systems really lend themselves to that kind of comprehensive approach."

A good example is the choir room, which functions as a rehearsal and meeting space for Faith Assembly's 75-member choir. "This is one of my favorite rooms," says Ramey, a Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) installer. "The idea was to create a system that has the same tonal signature and warmth in rehearsal as the choir experiences during services in the sanctuary."

To accomplish that, Ramey specified a self-powered system consisting of two wall-mounted NuQ-12DP mains, augmented by a pair of B15DP subwoofers. "The NuQ-12 was an obvious choice for two reasons," he explains. "First, it's the same model as is used for choir monitors on stage. It's also a very warm, very vocal-friendly speaker. Combining that with the subs does an amazing job of capturing the spacious sound of the sanctuary in the rehearsal room."

Various Turbosound NuQ speakers were also employed in the three kids theatre rooms and the wedding chapel. The two larger kids' theaters accommodate up to 300 youths, with staging designed for video and theatrical presentations. Three NuQ-10 speakers comprise the mains in a left/center/right deployment, augmented by a pair of TCS-B15A subwoofers. Two TCX-8 compact two-way speakers handle stage monitoring. All seven speakers are flown to keep the stage area clear. The third kids' theater is for early elementary age children and is classroom-sized, with all sound reinforcement handled by a pair of ceiling-mounted NuQ-8 full-range loudspeakers.

The wedding chapel is an intimate space designed for acoustic music and voice, obtaining full, rich sound from a pair of NuQ-12 speakers supported by two B-15 subwoofers. Like the sanctuary, choir room and kids theater spaces, all speakers utilize the RACKDP-50 power management system. The sole exception is the church atrium, where sound reinforcement is supplied by a pair of self-powered TXP-121 loudspeakers.

In terms of customer satisfaction, Jeff Cameron of Encore Broadcast Solutions says he feels that the switch proved to be a critical piece of the Faith Assembly installation. "Once the church heard the potential of the Turbosound Flex array, it was just a matter of design and execution," he says. "Atlantic Pro Audio was able to design a system that delivered what we promised sonically but without compromising the visual side of the presentation, which was equally important. It was a real team effort, which is what it takes to succeed on a project of this scale."