Mankin spreads the FABC message to every seat in the house

Moving its growing congregation to a new home in New Orleans, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church (FABC) decided to outfit the new space with a sound reinforcement solution from L-Acoustics. The new US$35m,12,000m² sanctuary required a solution capable of covering the 3,500-seat venue in its entirety. Nashville-based AV systems integrator Mankin Media Systems designed and installed a long throw Kara system.

‘The challenge was the sheer size of the new sanctuary, which also has a 175-seat choir loft and massive stage with a thrust and an orchestra pit,’ explains Mankin Media president and founder, Ben Mankin. ‘But the Kara loudspeakers were the perfect solution. The curve of the line array perfectly follows the rake of the seating, the throw of the Kara is excellent for distance in a large church, and using Soundvision software – which we use for everything – we were able to design and tune the system to cover every seat in the venue within less than 2dB of any other seat.’

The system installed by Mankin encompasses three hangs of 11 Kara(i) boxes each. Low-end is supported by six gound-stacked KS28 subwoofers, in addition to arrays of four SM18i subs flown next to the main left and right Kara hangs. Two short throw X8 extended-bandwidth loudspeakers provide front fill, while a pair of medium throw ARCS Wide speakers flown behind the SB18i serve as choir monitors. A dozen LA4X and two LA12X amplified controllers power and process the entire system.

FABC AV media director Jestin J Quiett also saw the long-term potential for the church by selecting the new sound system. ‘Moving from the old building to the new building is night and day,’ he comments. ‘The technical tools we have now can help us grow for a long time, and the new audio system is amazing. There's not a bad seat in the room.’

‘This was quite a step up in the kind of space they’ve been used to, and they wanted a sound system that could provide real impact,’ concludes Mankin. ‘In fact, after hearing the new system, one of the pastors said, jokingly, “We’d better get some new singers, because everyone is going to hear every note through this sound system,” I understand what he meant, though, the L-Acoustics sound system let's you hear every nuance of what’s coming from the stage. For a church with a message, that’s just what it needs.’