Outline at Healing Place Church Arena

Baton Rouge, LA, USA – Healing Place Church (featured as “One of America’s Most Innovative Churches” in Outreach Magazine) has recently moved into its brand new worship facility, the HPC Arena (http://www.healingplacechurch.com/). To serve the 3,000-seat Sanctuary, SIA Acoustics, responsible for sound system and acoustical design, selected Outline products to reliably reproduce the word and music of the church’s worship leaders, as well as numerous visiting groups.

The main sound system is comprised of 42 C.D.H. 483 “Butterfly” loudspeakers, divided into three arrays (two of 13 elements and one of 16) to cover the floor seating area, with ten Subtech 218 SP’s for low-frequency reproduction and 11 Micra II SP loudspeakers for front fill. The raised seating area is served by six delay arrays, each composed of six Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. elements and two C.D.L. 1815 cardioid “Low Packs”, connected via a custom-built spreader bar to suspend the subwoofers directly behind the full-range arrays. This arrangement permitted the most consistent alignment between components and minimized sightline obstructions, while extending full-range impact to the most distant seats.

Regarding the sound system design, Adam Shulman, Consultant and System Designer with SIA Acoustics explains, “It was extremely important to the Church that the worship experience was consistent across all 3,000 seats in the space. Sonically, this meant very careful sound system design and judicious use of acoustical treatments. Visually, it was critical that sightlines from every location were preserved to the entire stage and projection screens. Though the ability of the system to ‘throw’ was not such a concern, utilizing main and delay loudspeakers allowed us to hide the substantial arrays in the ceiling structure while preserving the needed pattern control and consistency. And since opening, the Church leadership has received compliments about the sound and overall experience from what might, in other facilities, be considered the ‘nosebleeds’ – but not here. We worked hard to ensure that there are no ‘cheap seats’ in this facility”.

For this project, the decision to specify Outline products was the result of a market-wide survey of many manufacturers and products. SIA Acoustics first measured the performance of each product individually to assess critical acoustical issues such as off-axis consistency and the effectiveness of special pattern-control techniques. Based on this, SIA met extensively with Outline staff in Italy to fully understand the R&D process and manufacturing facilities, as well as Outline’s plans for meeting the Church’s production requirements and providing continued customer support.

“Our evaluation process takes us through all of a manufacturer’s disciplines in detail – including not only a thorough look at the technical performance of the product, but also their ability to fully support the customer before, during and particularly after installation” – explains Steve Sockey, partner at SIA Acoustics, “Out of the manufacturers we surveyed, Outline best fulfilled the needs of the Church for this project. We are thrilled about the out come”.

For components that are not already self-powered, Outline T7 amplifiers were installed adjacent to each loudspeaker array, suspended adjacent to the catwalk (a total of 33 were used). All T7 amplifiers (powering C.D.H. 483 and C.D.L. 1815 loudspeakers), as well as every Mini-COM.P.A.S.S. loudspeaker contains DSP and is networked for control and monitoring.

“We are confident that this system and supporting infrastructure will fully meet the Church’s technical needs, as well as those of any guest worship groups that they host, for the foreseeable future. The entire Healing Place Church team – including pastors and worship leaders, musicians, technicians and administrators – already operated at a very high level. Since moving into their new worship facility, however, they now have the opportunity to really grow without technical restriction. We are very excited to see where they go in the coming years”, adds Shulman.

For further information:

SIA Contact:

Steve Sockey
ssockey@siaacoustics.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Adam Shulman
ashulman@siaacoustics.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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About SIA Acoustics LLC

SIA Acoustics LLC is an acoustical design firm that specializes in projects where great sound is critical. Serving the architectural, production, performing arts and special event communities, they are experienced consultants offering services in acoustics, technical systems design, facility planning, and special event design. Founded in 1989 and based in New York City and Los Angeles, SIA Acoustics solves difficult acoustical and technical challenges and is also known for developing SIA-SMAART, the industry-leading acoustical measurement and sound system optimization software system. http://www.siaacoustics.com/