Woodstock church re-imagines with L-ISA
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In 1986, when former Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny M. Hunt joined the church as senior pastor, FBCW truly flourished, leading to the 2005 construction of a 7,200-seat worship centre to accommodate its booming congregation of more than 20,000 members. Seventeen years later, the church has taken another major step forward by becoming the site of the world’s largest permanent installation of L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive sound technology.
Technology solutions provider Diversified was brought into the project nearly two years ago to provide the church with an AVL upgrade for its in-person Worship Centre experience. “We were asked to help them reimagine a venue that would feel equally intentional for both of those very different services,” recalls Tim Corder, Diversified director of strategic accounts, worship and performance environments. “After spending several days with the church’s creative team in an intense ideation session, we imagined a system anchored on the in-room experience that would have the ability to transition very quickly within a 15-minute turnaround from one service to the next.”
From the onset, the Diversified team strongly felt that L-ISA was the right ft for the project.
The solution came in the form of the new A Series loudspeaker line from L-Acoustics. “A Series, and specifically the A15i, was chosen for several reasons: first and foremost because the technology and sound of the box mimic larger L-Acoustics enclosures like the K1, K2, and K3,” shares Josh Maichele, L-Acoustics applications project manager, house of worship. “Secondly, some of the major advantages to the A Series products are their size and weight. We were able to get the long throw because A15i is a line source, but we were also able to bend the array faster with the A15i Wide, allowing us to reduce the line length and keep the arrays well above LED wall sightlines.”
Using Soundvision, Diversified and L-Acoustics specified a main Scene system comprising five arrays of five A15i Focus enclosures over one A15i Wide, backed by four central hangs of two KS28 subs. That system is flanked by two Extension arrays of five A10i Focus over one A10i Wide, which is complemented with two out-fill arrays of five A10i Focus over one A10i Wide and two far horizontal out-fill arrays of three A10i Wide.
Below, 14 coaxial 5XT are spread out across the stage stairs for front-fill, with two X8 providing extreme left and right front-fill. Additional A10i Wide enclosures are positioned out in the house for over- and under-balcony-fill, while above the stage, two hangs of one A15i Wide and one A15i Focus plus two mountings of A15i Wide serve as choir monitors. A total of three LA12X, 15 LA4X, and four LA2Xi amplified controllers power and process the house and monitor systems, which are all managed via the new L-Acoustics L-ISA Processor II.
“By seat count, this is now the largest venue in the world to have a permanently installed L-Acoustics L-ISA setup,” says Corder. “Diversified completed the very first house of worship project with L-ISA back in 2019, so it’s awesome for us to see the technology and projects continue to grow.”
