One of the most visited buildings on campus is Baker Memorial Chapel. Constructed in 1958, the historic brick building hosts weekly worship services, campus-sponsored events including seasonal concerts, guest speakers and presentations, baccalaureate and invocation services, as well as frequent weddings and memorial services for alumni and current students.
When the college's administrators recently decided to replace the existing cluster-style sound system in the busy venue, it was crucial that the new system provide superior sound quality while preserving the church's quaint aesthetic and historic architecture. The chapel's wood panelled walls, initially designed as acoustical treatment for a massive, now-defunct pipe organ, presented some challenges in this regard.
"Because of the types of events the chapel hosts, voice intelligibility was a key concern," says Robert Musser, sales consultant at DSL Sound, Inc., the Maryland-based audio video contractor responsible for designing and installing the chapel's new sound system. "The plaster and wood surfaces are highly reflective and not very conducive to speech intelligibility, but for aesthetic reasons we weren't able to make any acoustical alterations to the space."
DSL Sound's first choice for the project was an Entasys high-performance column line-array loudspeaker system from Community Professional Loudspeakers. The full-range three-way system delivers line-array performance in a compact design intended for houses of worship and similar applications.
Musser and his team installed six Entasys ENT-FR loudspeakers, three on each side of the proscenium, supported by two VERIS 210S subwoofers, one per side, to cover the main floor area. The entire system is painted white to coordinate with the chapel's décor.
The Veris subwoofers are powered by Crown CDI amps, with a London BLU-100 processor controlling the system. A 16-channel mixing console is also available as needed for musical performances and other applications.
"When compared to other audio solutions with similar features, Entasys was hands-down our preferred solution," Musser says. "It performs better than any other audio system in its price range and it looks fantastic when installed."
(Jim Evans)
