EAW AC6 Upgrade Delivers Clarity And Energy At St. Jude's Church

Seeking to rejuvenate an ageing sound system for its 5,000–6,000 parishioners, St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Southern California enlisted DayTech Consulting—owner and operator Andrew Day with audio engineer Brian Stanley—working alongside Rat Sound Systems, the regional EAW dealer. The team delivered a new installation centred on Eastern Acoustic Works’ AC6 ADAPTive column loudspeakers.

“The AC6 with its ADAPTive technology delivers. It’s not a secret sauce; it’s real engineering that you can rely on,” he said. “We could tell that during commissioning, when we made even tiny adjustments in the software, you could instantly hear the difference.”

The church’s previous setup of four loudspeakers and two substantial subwoofers had been in place for over 20 years. Its centre cluster obstructed a stained‑glass window, coverage was uneven and the system lacked the precision expected in contemporary worship spaces.

The refreshed design comprises four AC6 ADAPTive columns—two per side—forming dual seven‑foot arrays with a compact 12″ × 12″ footprint. Low‑frequency energy is reinforced by a pair of EAW 18‑inch subwoofers, one on each side, positioned just outside the AC6 arrays for balanced bass response.

Thanks to the AC6’s small footprint and steerable, ADAPTive coverage control, the team removed the centre cluster entirely, preserving the architecture and showcasing the stained‑glass window while improving intelligibility and consistency. “They wanted that center cluster gone,” Day explains. “To do that, we had to bring the speakers in a bit and find the right compromise. But once they were up, the results spoke for themselves.”

Coverage uniformity improved markedly from day one. Day recalls a moment during the first full Sunday Mass after commissioning: “Brian was walking around with an iPad tuning the room. We were sitting in the back corner, which originally was one of the worst seats in the house. He leaned over and said, ‘Wow, this is a really good seat.’”

“It now sounds the same, no matter where you choose to sit in the room,” adds Stanley. There is not a bad seat anywhere.”

During commissioning, EAW’s Resolution software enabled precise, on‑the‑fly refinements to the coverage pattern. A rear glass window had been creating problematic reflections. “He snapped a line in the software and lowered it less than a foot,” Day says. “We could hear the difference instantly.”

Long‑term serviceability was another key requirement. The AC6’s modular architecture provides resilience if a module were to fail. “One of the biggest selling points was that if one module goes down, the other two make up for it,” Day notes. “You can keep going and not have to take the system down immediately.”

For a parish with daily Mass and very limited downtime, that reassurance was crucial. “That peace of mind is worth a lot,” he adds. “Especially during seasons like Lent or Christmas when you simply can’t get a lift in the building.”