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"Point the loudspeaker at the audience or congregation, and they will hear it better" (what a concept!). I am continuously
amazed by the number of systems installed in churches and auditoriums where the directional components (high frequency
horns) are not even directed to the listener's ear at all.
The next definition is for Critical Distance. Critical Distance is that point within a room or acoustic space where the level of the
reverberant energy field and the level of the direct sound field are equal. Once you step beyond the point of critical distance,
the reverberant level is greater than the direct sound level. The farther you move beyond the critical distance point, the
reverberant field tends to mask or cover the direct field. A fairly simple and straightforward test can be conducted in any
church to ascertain the approximate point of critical distance in any church sanctuary. You see the church has a critical
distance point within its acoustical space, with and without the sound system turned on. It is a good idea to establish the point
of critical distance without the sound system first, then conduct the same test employing the sound reinforcement system. The
properly installed sound system should move the natural (unassisted) point of critical distance dramatically further out into the
listening area. However don't be too surprised if after conducting both the assisted and unassisted tests, if the assisted or
reinforced test exhibits an even shorter critical distance measurement. If this is the case, the sound system is of an
inappropriate design for that room.
Finding the critical distance point in the church sanctuary can be done with one person acting as the speaking source and two
to four subjects acting as the listeners. With the sound system off, have the speaker read a passage from the Bible while
standing at the pulpit. (Note: It is best to use a speaker with a normal voice, like the actor, Richard Harris, who has a trained
voice projected from the diaphragm and would be more easily understood at a distance than a normal talker.) Have the
listeners stand a couple of feet in front of the pulpit, have them listen to the person speaking without looking directly at them
(keep their eyes directed), and have them slowly back up the center aisle of the church. Instruct the listeners to raise their
hands when they perceive that sound is no longer coming directly from the direction of the person speaking. As you slowly
back away there will be a point at which the sound is still understood but it no longer appears to come directly from the
source, it just appears to be there. If the listeners are of normal binaural hearing, i.e., both ears work equally well, they
should come to within 12 to 18 inches of agreement as to the point in the room where the sound no longer appears to come
from the pulpit. After this point is determined, turn on the sound system and repeat the test while speaking into the pulpit
microphone. If the system is designed well, there should be a much greater distance from the pulpit to the critical distance
point with speech reinforcement. Experiment with this test as it can show you a lot about the acoustics of your church
sanctuary and the degree to which your existing sound system is effective.
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Home > Support > Tech Notes > Arraying Loudspeaker Systems
Another consideration in a small church such as this is the angle of coverage in the vertical plane that the loudspeaker offers.
Many of our enclosures have a nominal ninety-degree horizontal by a forty-five degree vertical angle of coverage. A typical
coverage pattern with a single loudspeaker with a forty-five degree vertical angle of coverage is shown below:
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The room in these examples is 40 ft. long by 25 ft. wide by 16 ft. high.
What happens when the room is much longer and a single loudspeaker enclosure does not have enough vertical coverage
pattern to do the job? The answer is to employ two enclosures, one for the Far Field and one for the Near Field. The Inverse
Square Law says that the direct sound field emanating from a sound source will vary in level with the inverse of the square of
the distance away from the source. Or on the decibel scale it becomes simpler, as sound drops in level -6 dB, each time you
double the distance away from the source.
The important thing to consider here is that the loudspeaker that is intended to cover the first one-third of the congregation
must be reduced in level.
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Now let us take a look at applications where the room is wider than in these past examples.
The typical approach in wider rooms is to provide for left and right near field coverage along with a Far Field System. This can
be best done with a three-loudspeaker array. The outside loudspeakers are turned upside down to cover the near field left and
right seating areas, while the center loudspeaker is mounted right side up. The center loudspeaker is still angled downward
somewhat while the outside loudspeakers are angled down about forty degrees farther.
Below is a scanned photograph of a three-loudspeaker array as we just described. This particular array is what we have in our
auditorium at the Peavey Dealer Training Center in Meridian, Mississippi. There is also a complete article that covers how this
approach can be done with a single power amplifier operated in bridge mode.
There are also some church sanctuaries where the actual longest distances are to the left and right rear corners of the church.
These rooms are usually more octagon or even pie shaped. In the case of an application such as this, another type of a threeloudspeaker system array can be employed. This time, however, the two outside speakers are to be mounted right side up
while the center loudspeaker is mounted upside-down. The outside loudspeakers now provide for the Far Field coverage to the
left and right rear corners while the center loudspeaker becomes our Near Field center fill enclosure. However, this approach
cannot be driven from a single amplifier operated in bridge mode. In this application the center (Near Field) loudspeaker
needs to be operated -6 dB below the level of the two Far Field enclosures.
What about balconies and alcoves or under balcony spaces. All of the above are best addressed as separate acoustic spaces,
which they actually are. Any time the Free Field is truncated (or reduced to a smaller space), the acoustics involved are totally
different. The Free Field is that portion of the direct field not influenced by the boundaries. Anytime you introduce a new space
with smaller dimensions; it is not a good idea to try to provide coverage from the main FOH array. The best approach for
these special requirements is to use smaller loudspeaker enclosures with delay, as outlines above for delayed remote
loudspeaker systems.
This paper is only intended to be a general guideline of the principles discussed, and is by no means intended as a cookbook
solution. If you are to have utmost success with a sound system installation, you need to rely upon someone with solid
experience in the design, calibration, and operation of such systems. To do otherwise is to risk the possibility of an expensive
short-term experiment in audio. Prayer can be a powerful tool, but it can't fix a poor sound system design.
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