Highland Baptist Church's new multipurpose facility blessed with spectacular sound thanks to Digital Resources and L-ACOUSTICS
WACO, Texas -- After nearly four decades of holding worship services in their original sanctuary, the staff and congregation of Highland Baptist Church in Waco, Texas have now moved their preaching -- as well as their playing -- into the church's new multipurpose Life Center, which is equipped with a full loudspeaker and amplifier package from L-ACOUSTICS.
Aside from regularly hosting two Sunday morning services, the 1800-capacity Life Center is a highly versatile environment designed to accommodate everything from concerts and theatrical productions to banquets and community events to basketball and volleyball games.
The specification for an L-ACOUSTICS system was initially generated by the end user. "When we began the process of planning our new multipurpose worship space, the one area I asked our church leadership not to compromise on was in the sound system," notes Highland Baptist Church Worship Pastor Gary Rhodes. "My own experience of attending concerts and being in other venues, combined with our research, pointed us toward L-ACOUSTICS as our first choice."
Southlake, Texas-based Digital Resources, Inc. served as the design-build systems integrator for the project. "We agreed that L-ACOUSTICS fit the room very well, especially seeing that the church wanted to position itself as a premier venue for high-quality Contemporary Christian performances," says Digital Resources Senior Systems Designer Rick Robinson, who has 22 years of experience in designing technology solutions for houses of worship. "L-ACOUSTICS' technical rider compatibility was obviously an important consideration for attracting touring acts, but, in my opinion, the primary benefit of their products is that they can be run at high levels without being 'offensive'. The frequency response and coverage are both extremely smooth."
After Mr. Robinson designed the required acoustic treatments for the room, which is essentially a wide rectangle with 24-foot ceilings, he worked closely with the L-ACOUSTICS US team to design the optimal loudspeaker configuration for the Life Center using the manufacturer's SOUNDVISION prediction software.
The resulting setup is comprised of eight dV-DOSC loudspeakers and three 
dV-SUB boxes flown per side. Two 8XT coaxial enclosures are deployed as far left and right side fills, while four SB28 double-18-inch subs are positioned under the stage for added low-end punch. All of these systems are powered, processed and controlled by a total of eight LA8 amplified controllers.
One of Highland Baptist Church's first opportunities to truly test the new system's mettle came during an event known as the Waco Community Hymn Sing, which featured vocal performances from Steve Green, Cynthia Clawson, Kurt Kaiser, Rodrigo Rodriquez and Keron Jackson. Under the direction of Nashville-based arranger/producer David Hamilton, the artists were backed by a 55-piece orchestra and 300-member choir made up of singers from more than 20 area church choirs.
Both Pastor Rhodes and Highland Baptist Music Associate/AV Coordinator Tim Cates were extremely pleased with how the system sounded that night. “Many people, both young and old, commented on how wonderful the sound was and that it was the best sounding system in the area," Rhodes says. "Musicians from other churches as well as production people from Baylor University, which has its own L-ACOUSTICS system, told us 'you guys did it right!' Our Christmas Eve service was also one of the best we have ever had and I know that the addition of the dV-DOSC arrays was a big part of what made it special. I am thankful we made the decisions we did, incredibly pleased with the quality of sound we are able to achieve in our times of worship, and excited about the potential for the future."
Although the Life Center project marked Digital Resources' first experience installing L-ACOUSTICS, Mr. Robinson remarks that it will hardly be the last. "Dan Palmer and his team in Oxnard were very helpful and easy to work with and the rig has performed flawlessly since it went in," he adds. "We'll absolutely be recommending L-ACOUSTICS again for future projects that require uncompromising quality and performance."
In addition to providing the Life Center's sound system installation and acoustical treatments, Digital Resources' Rick Robinson assisted the church in the design of the video projection and theatrical lighting systems.
Highland Baptist Church can be found online at www.highlandbc.org, with Digital Resources located on the Web at www.digitalresources.com.
L-ACOUSTICS is a leading innovator and manufacturer of high-performance loudspeakers, amplifiers and signal processing devices for touring and installed sound markets. Known around the globe for pioneering and championing the modern line array loudspeaker concept with V-DOSC®, the company has received numerous accolades for its KUDOâ„¢, KIVAâ„¢, ARCS®, XT coaxial loudspeaker systems and SB line of subwoofer enclosures, all powered and processed with the LA4 and LA8 amplified controllers in fulfillment of a "total system approach." L-ACOUSTICS products for the North American market are manufactured and distributed by L-ACOUSTICS US of Oxnard, California.
Photo credit: www.joegriffinphotography.com
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