First Baptist Church In Carthage Revamps Sound

First Baptist Church in Carthage, Texas, has overhauled its audio system, retiring a setup that had changed little since the building opened in 2003.

The new solution is built around Martin Audio’s TORUS constant curvature array technology, bringing markedly improved consistency, clarity and coverage to worship services.

Church leaders said the worship style and musical programme had long outgrown the previous system, which suffered from patchy coverage, failing loudspeakers and amplifiers, and poor intelligibility. Seeking a future-proof upgrade, the church partnered with integrator RP AVL, headed by founder Ray Priszner.

"I stepped away from a Technical Director role at a mega-church in the Houston area to found RP AVL in 2022," said Ray. "I missed helping churches and working alongside volunteer teams to increase their skill set in serving their local church. This project started because of a relationship with a pastor who felt called back to his home church in Texas. In his prior church I had installed a smaller Martin Audio system which he really loved."

The brief called for natural, transparent sound with even coverage for the entire congregation, strong speech intelligibility, and scalability to support the ministry’s growth. Having auditioned the TORUS platform previously, Priszner was confident it would fit: "I was very impressed with the tonality, imaging and HF coverage," he recalled.

The sanctuary's acoustics posed specific hurdles. The room is wider than it is deep, with a stepped ceiling and frequency anomalies. Alongside acoustic treatment, Martin Audio's DISPLAY software underpinned the design and optimisation process.

"Importing the room rendering and modelling with different Martin boxes made the process seamless - ultimately choosing the TORUS T820 and CDD6 to be the optimal boxes for the space," said Ray. "I'm very impressed how accurate the DISPLAY modelling was compared to the physical deployment of the system. Using SMAART I measured numerous positions within .2db of DISPLAY's predictions. This alone has given me additional confidence when designing and implementing Martin Audio solutions."

The finished system features left and right hangs of four TORUS T820 elements apiece, supported by a pair of SX218 dual-18in subwoofers and two Martin Audio CDD6 loudspeakers handling outfill. Amplification is via two Martin Audio iKON IK41 units.

"Using the TORUS in single box resolution really helped with the coverage throughout the space," noted Ray. "With the constant curvature design, shading to the front rows without the need for front fills was a huge win."

He also highlighted the straightforward deployment: "Again the DISPLAY 3 configuration was spot on with pick points and angles. It couldn’t have been easier using the provided hardware with no additional need."

For the side coverage, Priszner selected Martin Audio's CDD series, a line he considers a dependable choice for houses of worship. "They have a sound that is natural and open with a great form factor. They pair well with the TORUS line giving additional fill where needed giving a smooth tone extension."

The quality of the CDD6 alone made an immediate impression during commissioning. “I had just finished tuning the CDD6s when the worship pastor walked in and was amazed at the sound. I turned and looked at him to inform him that the only thing on was the outfills. His jaw dropped. He said ‘no way. That can’t be.’ But I said yes, only the small guys!”

Low frequencies are delivered by the SX218 subwoofers, tuned for uniform bass across the room. "The SX218 each receive single driver power which gave me the ability to steer the low frequency and create more even coverage," he said.

The improvement was immediately noticeable to staff and congregants alike. “We had a rehearsal where I dialled in the band and vocalists, and I worked with the volunteers on their console to get things set-up. They pointed out how big and clear the sound was and how natural it all felt. Over the weekend, long term church members made comments about being able to hear all the instruments along with the choir for the first time in their 15 years of attending the church and how the speakers weren’t distracting to the space. It was a huge win.”

Reflecting on the outcome, Priszner said the project delivered exactly what was needed. "The overall project was a huge success for this client," he concluded. "They no longer have different areas in their room where the sound is louder or softer, and the clarity and fullness of the system is allowing them to experience worship and the word as never before."

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