At the end of that process, they chose a Dynacord system based on its Vertical Array components, which was designed by Olaf Trinkus from Trinkus Licht+Tontechnik, Wolfsburg.
The church sanctuary is a difficult space for audio design, with high ceilings and strong reverberation characteristics. The design goals were challenging. The church wanted clarity of spoken word, and big concert sound with full-range fidelity for musical presentations, with even distribution throughout the church and minimum acoustic feedback. Another requirement was minimal aesthetic impact, preserving sight lines while blending in with the architecture.
Dynacord Vertical Arrays proved to be the best choice for this difficult task. Vertical pattern control is a requirement for highest sound quality and speech intelligibility, especially in difficult acoustic spaces. The fixed column design provides smooth, even coverage over a wide bandwidth, and are available with white aluminium cabinets and wall mounts to blend unobtrusively with the church walls.
One pair of Dynacord TS 400W column speakers is used as the primary sound source. The cabinet uses four 6.5-inch neodymium woofers as array elements for the mid frequencies, combining them with a high-frequency compression driver for high sound pressure levels, with tight 40-degree vertical dispersion to minimize unwanted reflections in reflective spaces.
Additional reinforcement is provided by a pair of Dynacord TS 200 column speakers as delays, offering the identical sound signature of the TS 400 from Dynacord. In the church of the Christusbrüdergemeinde, they are time-aligned with the Dynacord TS 400 mains and played at a low volume, providing support without distracting attention away from the altar.
Bass extension is achieved through a single Dynacord PSE 215 subwoofer, featuring twin 15-inch drivers. All are powered by the church's legacy amplifiers.
System control, alignment, signal processing and loudspeaker protection is all realized via the digital DSP 600 controller from Dynacord and IRIS-Net software. Using its FIR (finite impulse response) filters and multi-stage delay, the DSP 600 from Dynacord optimizes all the loudspeakers as a unified system, providing time alignment for consistent levels throughout the room.
Additional audio needs included an isolated children's room and music monitoring on stage. For these applications, the design team selected Electro-Voice loudspeakers, featuring one self-powered ZXA1 loudspeaker for the children's room and a pair of FRi-28LPM floor monitors for the sound on stage.
The church leaders and congregation are very pleased with the big, modern sound the project has achieved. "The officials expressed full satisfaction with the results, which addressed all technical, acoustical, aesthetic and economic challenges with relative ease," comments Olav Trinkus, "The combination of Dynacord Vertical Array columns along with their associated subwoofer and signal processing proved to be the perfect solution for the Lutheran Christusbrüdergemeinde."
(Jim Evans)
