Meyer Sound immerses worshippers in Arizona

USA:

Located in Gilbert, Arizona Sun Valley Community Church (SVCC) has turned to Meyer Sound’s PANTHER linear line array loudspeakers and 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements to facilitate a more immersive worship experience. The parish places an emphasis on using technology to enrich its services and serves over 18,000 congregants across seven campuses and a thriving streaming channel.

Seating 1,200-worshippers, the sanctuary’s main campus previously housed a Meyer Sound LEOPARD system which was relocated to SVCC’s South Gilbert campus to make way for the PANTHER upgrade at the broadcast campus.

Kentucky-based integrator HouseRight supplied and installed the system. “SVCC was ready for something special, a state-of-the-art system that would support expanded programming,” said Chris Gille, creative solutions engineer at HouseRight. “I recommended that they installed a modern system that was fresh, reliable and available. Out of the entire industry, the answer was PANTHER.”

The Meyer Sound system is centered around two suspended arrays of seven PANTHER loudspeakers, supported by 10 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements, which are both hung and set on the ground. Six 2100-LFCs have been suspended from the air, while four 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements have been positioned on the ground to act as a sub-boost.

“This setup allows us to deliver a controlled low-end that projects over the congregation, creating an immersive, clean bass-heavy experience that has definition in low-end frequencies that everyone can feel and hear,” explained Matt Kotthoff, production and integration lead director at SVCC.

To ensure cohesive coverage for the sanctuary, HouseRight and Meyer Sound’s engineering team used the MAPP 3D system design and prediction tool. “While designing in MAPP 3D, front-to-back frequency, smoothness and low-mid beam control seemed a bit too good to be true, with only seven primary elements per stack, with AVB affording 1:1 drive resolution,” added Gille. “However, the reality was as predicted – and frequency banding fell tightly in line.”

Kotthoff concluded: “We're five weekends in and although most people might not pinpoint the changes, we've received a lot of positive feedback. Wherever you sit, you get stereo imaging with the musical dynamics PANTHER provides. It is an immersive experience from the moment people enter the room. Worship is about being together in a community. PANTHER creates an immersive experience from front to back, left to right, transforming the worship culture entirely.”