Switch to Danley point-source at First Baptist Church
- Details
Gattis had always been sober-minded about the limitations of even the best line array systems, and he saw that the Danley SM-80Fs would save the church $12k, provide higher-quality sound, and – at half the size of the line array – limit the visual impact to First Baptist Church's aesthetic.
"First Baptist Church has a large, traditional sanctuary, and they've long had a traditional Baptist service to go with it," explained Gattis. "But they're also making a slow shift to a more contemporary service. However, the audio system they had in place for the past twenty years was not going to support that shift. On top of being just plain old, it was buried in the organ chambers, which led to all kinds of weird resonances and dead spots in the room. Even speech was borderline unintelligible at various places throughout the sanctuary."
Gattis had a line array system designed for First Baptist Church with a schedule to receive and install it near the end of the summer, but then he attended InfoComm in June. "The Danley SM-80F blew me away," he said. "I went back to First Baptist and said, 'I've got something that's going to save you money and that will sound even better than the line array we had planned'.
“They were already into the idea of the line array, but they also trusted me [Gattis Pro Audio secured the job in part because of work Gattis had done decades ago with the youth leader's father]. They agreed to give it a shot on the condition that we would remove the Danleys and put in the original line array if they weren't satisfied. Since I knew they would be more than satisfied, it was an easy condition to accept."
Gattis installed two SM-80Fs for true stereo output, and their built-in, double fifteen-inch (patented) Tapped Horn subwoofers fill in the bottom end. A QSC QSys DSP provides modest input and loudspeaker conditioning, and QSC four-channel amps power the system. A church-requested Allen & Heath console provides a clean front-end and user interface for the system.
In addition to the new sound reinforcement system, Gattis Pro Audio also gave First Baptist Church new lighting and a new video system for recording and streaming. All the lighting is Elation, with the bulk of the work being done by Elation DTW 300 fixtures that Gattis' crew custom painted white.
"They love the new Danley system," Gattis concluded. "For the first time, they have real bass response, and all the full-range content is consistent and articulate. Certainly, no one is asking for a line array."
(Jim Evans)
