S&L Integrated Overhauls Apex Baptist Church

A major audio refit at North Carolina's Apex Baptist Church by S&L Integrated has introduced Martin Audio's WPS Wavefront Precision line arrays, markedly improving speech intelligibility and musical impact throughout the sanctuary.

To deliver full-production contemporary worship and clear spoken-word sermons, the church commissioned S&L Integrated to replace its outdated sound system, achieving a step-change in fidelity and seamless coverage across the room.

"We've had a long-standing relationship with Shawn Walden, the Worship Pastor at Apex Baptist," said Gage Helton, Director of Operations at S&L Integrated. "When they realised their previous audio infrastructure was holding back their worship experience, he reached out to us to design a complete, top-to-bottom system redesign."

"While the church had grown significantly, the old system just couldn't keep up," Helton continued. "Speech clarity was lost due to a lack of coverage, particularly in and under the balcony sections. The upgrade was also designed to remove previous technical barriers to elevate their Sunday morning experience, building a scalable platform that could support future growth and higher-production events."

Beyond Sunday services, the sanctuary also hosts concerts, holiday productions, youth events and conferences, demanding a versatile solution.

The venue's acoustics posed significant hurdles, with a large main floor, deep balcony and reflective side walls. "Acoustically, it was a classic house-of-worship puzzle," Helton described. "High RT60 reverb times, flutter echo off the side walls and balcony face, and severe acoustic shadowing under and above the balcony."

S&L Integrated combined targeted acoustic treatment on the side walls and balcony face with the precise control of Martin Audio's WPS arrays to focus energy where needed and minimise reflections.

The install features ten WPS elements per side in flown left/right hangs, each driven in single-box resolution for maximum precision. Low-frequency extension comes from a flown centre array of three SXHF218 subwoofers in a cardioid configuration to keep excess energy off the stage.

Front-fill duties are handled by six Martin Audio FlexPoint FP6 loudspeakers, with six FlexPoint FP4 enclosures covering the upper balcony. "I look for a fill to get out of the way and do what it's supposed to," Helton noted. "Martin Audio's FlexPoint models are small and sound great."

Power is provided by three Martin Audio iKON iK81 and three iK42 amplifiers. Martin Audio's DISPLAY software was used to model the space and set trim heights, pick points and x/y coordinates. "It is one of the easiest PA modelling products I have used," he said. "We also use it as a sales tool to show the client what coverage is going to look like in their space."

Helton reported a transformational outcome: "The room sounds open, warm, and exceptionally clear. Vocals sit effortlessly on top of the mix without ever feeling harsh or pushed, and the low-end coupling from the flown cardioid sub array gives worship music a visceral, high-fidelity impact without room boominess."

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