Turbosound installations

Rhema Bible Church, USA

Venue: Rhema Bible Church
Location: Broken Arrow, OK
Venue-type: House of Worship
Loudspeaker system:
12 x Flashlight TFS-780H
9 x Floodlight TFL-760H
9 x custom TFL-760 downfills
20 x TSW-721 bass enclosures
6 x TFM-250 choir monitors
18 x TMI-103 monitors
4 x HiLight THL-811W

The largest North American fixed Turbosound installation came with the first stage of a multi-part contract for the Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow. Audio Independence, Turbosound's American distributor, supplied a Flashlight/Floodlight system and monitors for the 5,000-seat arena.

Designed like a rock venue with raked seating, ithe church's new rig must reproduce a range of events, from full orchestras to solo evangelists.

The $390,000 already spent on the new audio system will be increased when the non-denominational church turns to its other on-campus facilities, including a further 2,000-seat arena, four 500-seat auditoria and a 750-capacity room. The church also incorporates a large ministerial school on campus, with an intake of 2,000 students a year.

"We are revamping the entire ministry," commented Eugene Gregory, the church's audio supervisor. "Each one of these facilities will be getting Turbosound. We are even putting Turbosound into our gym and already have eight Impact 50s on our tour bus."

The search for a new public address system began when the Rhema Bible Church faced the fact that its existing system was inadequate.

"We were very familiar with Turbosound as far as quality was concerned, and being in the music business for so long I had always looked at the brand as the finest available," remarked Eugene. "However, in this ministry they strive to have the best of everything, so, specifying Turbosound has not been a problem."

Of course Turbosound didn't have it all their own way. Several other proprietary sound systems were considered, but when their representatives weighed up the acoustical parameters of the building it was clear that they didn't have the product catalogue that would give the church the required coverage.

"Only Turbosound said that they didn't envisage a problem," picks up Eugene, "and that's because their cabinets are so well designed and are able to point right back to the upper-balcony position thanks to the long throw characteristics of Flashlight.Their design solved a lot of problems and thankfully went in really smoothly.

"Though it's a fairly modern building, the acoustical design is horrendous," says Eugene. "The original contractor had no concept of the future needs of the ministry and assumed it would accommodate the basic pipe organ, lavalier microphone, piano and choir; in fact it was designed to acoustically amplify the choir. With Turbosound we were able to solve all the problems in areas where, traditionally, you couldn't hear, like the back wall of the balcony."

The speed of rigging the 52-box system was a feat in itself. Going in after the Sunday evening service, under the project management of Audio Independence engineer Paul Giansante and sales engineer Brad Stephens, the contractors worked all night and right through the week, so that the congregation arriving at the following Sunday morning service were treated to new standards of speech intelligibility.

"We had done a lot to pave the way," explains Eugene. "With a staff of 340 we have all the basic construction skills on board so were able to deal with the electrical end and the structural end. We also had to add new rigging points, new structural supports in the catwalk and enlarge the speaker scrims. It was a major reconstruction but we were ready for Paul when he arrived on site on November 30."

The room's layout dictated the rigging arrangement. The shape is half-moon, facilitating five pre-existing cluster points (centre main and two on each side). Twelve TFS-780H Flashlight enclosures are deployed to cover the balcony with nine TFL-760 Floodlights covering the partial floor and nine custom TFL-760 downfills which have been flipped into a horizontal box, to cover the remainder of the lower floor.

The centre cluster comprises four Flashlight boxes, three Floodlights and three downfills, while two further clusters comprise three Flashlights, two Floodlights and two downfills, while providing the rear coverage is a cluster comprising single Floodlight and Flashlight boxes, with a downfill. The lower frequencies are handled by 12 flown TSW-721s, with a further eight ground-stacked under the stage.

In addition, Turbosound have provided all the stage and choir monitors with TFM-250s (12" plus 2" horn, biamped) as well as 18 TMI-103s, used on different areas of the stage and four THL-811W enclosures. The system is being powered exclusively by 34 amplifiers from UK company MC2.

Eugene confirms that so far the results have been outstanding. "The comments we have received have been very promising. This is a media-oriented ministry and people notice good sound when they hear it. The coverage is much better and it is only now we have learned why for years people could never understand what was being said."

The new system combines volume with clarity and Eugene confessed that they had to resist the temptation to exploit the full headroom available in the system. "Nevertheless," he said, "when things really get going we are running 105dB-106dB SPL at the console - previously we were getting 90dB out of a lapel mic."

One such occasion was the New Year's Eve appearance by leading evangelist, the Rev. Kenneth Copeland, when over 7,000 people attended.

The Rhema Bible Church is a worldwide organisation with headquarters in the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia, with many affiliated churches in the UK.

	Rhema Bible Church, USA

	Venue: Rhema Bible Church Location: Broken Arrow, OK Venue-type: House of Worship Loudspeaker system: 12 x Flashlight TFS-780H 9 x Floodlight TFL-760H 9 x custom TFL-760 downfills 20 x TSW-721 bass enclosures 6 x TFM-250 choir monitors 18 x TMI-103 monitors 4 x HiLight THL-811W

	The largest North American fixed Turbosound installation came with the first stage of a multi-part contract for the Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow. Audio Independence, Turbosound's American distributor, supplied a Flashlight/Floodlight system and monitors for the 5,000-seat arena. Designed like a rock venue with raked seating, ithe church's new rig must reproduce a range of events, from full orchestras to solo evangelists. The $390,000 already spent on the new audio system will be increased when the non-denominational church turns to its other on-campus facilities, including a further 2,000-seat arena, four 500-seat auditoria and a 750-capacity room. The church also incorporates a large ministerial school on campus, with an intake of 2,000 students a year. "We are revamping the entire ministry," commented Eugene Gregory, the church's audio supervisor. "Each one of these facilities will be getting Turbosound. We are even putting Turbosound into our gym and already have eight Impact 50s on our tour bus." The search for a new public address system began when the Rhema Bible Church faced the fact that its existing system was inadequate. "We were very familiar with Turbosound as far as quality was concerned, and being in the music business for so long I had always looked at the brand as the finest available," remarked Eugene. "However, in this ministry they strive to have the best of everything, so, specifying Turbosound has not been a problem." Of course Turbosound didn't have it all their own way. Several other proprietary sound systems were considered, but when their representatives weighed up the acoustical parameters of the building it was clear that they didn't have the product catalogue that would give the church the required coverage. "Only Turbosound said that they didn't envisage a problem," picks up Eugene, "and that's because their cabinets are so well designed and are able to point right back to the upper-balcony position thanks to the long throw characteristics of Flashlight.Their design solved a lot of problems and thankfully went in really smoothly. "Though it's a fairly modern building, the acoustical design is horrendous," says Eugene. "The original contractor had no concept of the future needs of the ministry and assumed it would accommodate the basic pipe organ, lavalier microphone, piano and choir; in fact it was designed to acoustically amplify the choir. With Turbosound we were able to solve all the problems in areas where, traditionally, you couldn't hear, like the back wall of the balcony." The speed of rigging the 52-box system was a feat in itself. Going in after the Sunday evening service, under the project management of Audio Independence engineer Paul Giansante and sales engineer Brad Stephens, the contractors worked all night and right through the week, so that the congregation arriving at the following Sunday morning service were treated to new standards of speech intelligibility. "We had done a lot to pave the way," explains Eugene. "With a staff of 340 we have all the basic construction skills on board so were able to deal with the electrical end and the structural end. We also had to add new rigging points, new structural supports in the catwalk and enlarge the speaker scrims. It was a major reconstruction but we were ready for Paul when he arrived on site on November 30." The room's layout dictated the rigging arrangement. The shape is half-moon, facilitating five pre-existing cluster points (centre main and two on each side). Twelve TFS-780H Flashlight enclosures are deployed to cover the balcony with nine TFL-760 Floodlights covering the partial floor and nine custom TFL-760 downfills which have been flipped into a horizontal box, to cover the remainder of the lower floor. The centre cluster comprises four Flashlight boxes, three Floodlights and three downfills, while two further clusters comprise three Flashlights, two Floodlights and two downfills, while providing the rear coverage is a cluster comprising single Floodlight and Flashlight boxes, with a downfill. The lower frequencies are handled by 12 flown TSW-721s, with a further eight ground-stacked under the stage. In addition, Turbosound have provided all the stage and choir monitors with TFM-250s (12" plus 2" horn, biamped) as well as 18 TMI-103s, used on different areas of the stage and four THL-811W enclosures. The system is being powered exclusively by 34 amplifiers from UK company MC2. Eugene confirms that so far the results have been outstanding. "The comments we have received have been very promising. This is a media-oriented ministry and people notice good sound when they hear it. The coverage is much better and it is only now we have learned why for years people could never understand what was being said." The new system combines volume with clarity and Eugene confessed that they had to resist the temptation to exploit the full headroom available in the system. "Nevertheless," he said, "when things really get going we are running 105dB-106dB SPL at the console - previously we were getting 90dB out of a lapel mic." One such occasion was the New Year's Eve appearance by leading evangelist, the Rev. Kenneth Copeland, when over 7,000 people attended. The Rhema Bible Church is a worldwide organisation with headquarters in the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia, with many affiliated churches in the UK.