Danley scores full marks at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren
Danley scores full marks at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren
Bridgewater Church of the Brethren’s history stretches right back to the late 1700s and, after centuries of growth in Bridgewater, Virginia, the HOW decided to construct its current, fan-shaped sanctuary in 1998. As the audio system started to fall behind the times, the church turned to local integrator RTW Media to replace the previous equipment with a Danley Sound Labs point source sound reinforcement system, which has taken the sound from “two out of 10 to 10 out of 10,” according to RTW Media’s logistics manager, Zack Guida.
“Bridgewater Church of the Brethren has a beautiful sanctuary with a 19.8m ceiling at its peak,” Guida explained. “They’re very into music and regularly bring notable Christian musicians in for services and concerts. However, their existing loudspeakers were only mid-grade when they went in over 20 years ago. They were flat sounding and threw energy all over the ceiling and walls. One driver was blown completely. The walls are reflective and the room is pretty live. They wanted something that was custom-designed for the space, which we knew meant something that was really directional so that all the energy would be focused on the seats and the ears. Because Danley offers so many choices for beam width, it was really just a matter of matching the right models to the specifics of the sanctuary.”
A Danley SH96 has been flown directly above the stage to cover over 70% of the seats with a 90° x 60° output pattern. It uses 11 drivers coerced into phase coherence through a single horn using Tom Danley’s patented Synergy Horn technologies. A pair of Danley SM60F loudspeakers flank the SH96 to provide fill to either side.
The technical staff at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren are excited about the new system’s capabilities. “There’s so much headroom and horsepower – it won’t break a sweat for a standard service,” added Guida. “They’ve already run tests micing instruments like flutes and brass that weren’t even reproducing through the old system. They soar through the Danleys. Things are so good that we’re already working on phase two. They’re considering Danley Nanos for choir monitors so that the church’s large choir can get the same Danley experience.”