New PA system in church...Help me spend $10,000

  • Thread starter Thread starter thajeremy
  • Start date Start date
thajeremy

thajeremy

registered abuser
Im not sure which forum to post this in so i will post it in a couple of them...

I was just asked to help my friend set up the new PA system in his church. He was given a $10,000 to $12,000 budget. I walked off the area of the church and it is about 3200 sq. ft. give or take a little. They already have one 15' main speaker in the center of the ceiling which is powered by I think a 400w amp. They want to keep it there. We are pretty much free to buy what ever we need but have been asked to stick as close as possible to the budget. We have already ordered a 100' snake (12 X 4). There will be a small sound room...about 12 X 8....not very big. The interrior of the church is being re-modeled at the moment so it should be fairly easy to do any wireing.

Here is the layout as told to me by my friend:

mic 1, dynamic: Preacher
mics 2 & 3: condensers: Choir
mics 4,5,6: stage left, channel 4 will be the drums, they will be mixed down into a 4 channel mixer and into channel 4 of the main mixer, 2 dynamic(one bass, one guitar)
mics 7,8,9: stage right: 1 condensor(piano) 2 dynamic(organ, vocal)
mics 10 - 12: 3 dynamic (vocals)

we also will need one choir monitor, and I think one monitor on each side of the stage will be enough for the guitar, bass, and drums on one side, and piano/organ on the other...so a total of 3...but that can change if we need more.

Im not sure if each mic fits the application in this situation and I told him that I would post here and get as many ideas as I could before we go to Sam Ashe tomorrow and start buying stuff. We need to buy everything as soon as possible; mixer(s), power amps, mics, cables, any processors we need such as compressors or EQ's....EVERYTHING.

We are looking at the Mackie CFX16
2 PV900 power amps
one AKG C1000 for guitar
bass probably direct
Shure PG drum mic package (nothing fancy)
still up in the air is the condensors for the piano and the choir
I think the organ will be direct out
also..im not sure if we need a dynamic or condensor for the preacher

Think i would need compressors? how bout an EQ?

Please...any suggestions for any alternatives???

I know this is a lot...i hope i didnt leave anything out...if i did...ill probably realize it after i submit this...ill fix it then...:)

Thanks for any help
Jeremy
 
OK I think I will answer in some more detail here.

First off I think you are unlikely to get a good install without bringing in somebody with experience.

Here, read this:

http://www.shure.com/pdf/booklets/audio_for_houses_of_worship.pdf

OK, now read it again.



OK, my comments:

I don't think the guitar, bass, and drums will be happy with one monitor. The drummer will want his own. The vocal soloists will want a monitor. The preacher might want one too.

I don't see a particular need for a drum submixer. Who is going to do the drum submix, the drummer? Get a big enough mixer for everything. As I said on the mic board, I think the snake is a bad idea. Don't constrain your # of channels because you're getting a 12 channel snake. Get a 24 channel board and install enough mic jacks where you'll need them.

Mics: A small installed sound condenser works and looks better for a preacher. Or a wireless lapel mic if he likes to move around. A dynamic can work well for piano--you probably want to limit the number of condensers out there so feedback is less likely to rear its ugly head. The choir, you want to hang some overhead condensers. You probably don't need a full mic kit for the drums, kick, snare, and a single overhead should do fine.

compressors - who is gonna run this board? If they have low experience sound techs, it could just create more problems. Unless the preacher likes to whisper and yell :rolleyes: You might need a delay if your mains are staggered through the sanctuary, but I don't know the shape of this church. You'll have onboard EQ; a graphic can be helpful in fixing problem areas, but a parametric can be nicer for killing feedback. If you do set a graphic for the room, keep it away from prying hands!

An isolated sound room? How are the sound techs gonna mix, over headphones? Ain't gonna work too well.

But the main thing you gotta figure out is how many and what size of mains you need, where to put them, and how much power you need to drive them and the monitors. If you post a description of the sanctuary, complete with dimensions & size of congregation, you'll get some pretty good advice.
 
Well you have $10,000 for a church PA in a 3,200sq ft area.


Are you just going to use a center cluster of speakers, LCR, or left right?

First off with that kind of budget you can get something better then mackie for the mixer.
Allen & Heath MixWizard3 16:2 $1,000

Preacher mic: Do you want a wireles lav or just a handheld? wireless handheld?

Choir mics: AT4040 or KSM27 $600.00

Guitar cab:
Sennheiser E609 Silver 100

Bass: AKG D 112 200

Drums: Kick AKG D 112 $200 Snare Shure SM57 $100 Toms Sennheiser e 604 $300.00
Do you really need overheads?

Vocals: any wireless? Shure Beta-58a x4 $640.00

not sure about the rest of the mics

It would be a good idea to get a larger mixer if possiable and 24ch snake. How about playing cd's? Wheres the cd player gonna go??

You are going to need more then a 4ch feed back to the stage.

Mains...3 monitors... it adds up.
 
As much as I love my KSM27s, they're a bad idea for installed sound. The day will come when somebody in the choir kicks over the mic stand. You just want stuff out of the way as much as possible, hence the installed mics hanging from the ceiling.
 
That Shure thing is good. Peavey is also very experienced in church sound. Get some experienced advice. 10Gs of someone else's money is a lot to go wrong with.
 
I guess it would be a good idea to hang some mics if you think they're going to be clumsy. I have 4 KSM44's for a choir and nobody has droped them yet :)
 
fldrummer said:
I guess it would be a good idea to hang some mics if you think they're going to be clumsy. I have 4 KSM44's for a choir and nobody has droped them yet :)
Click to expand...

They also don't have to be set up, put away, looked after, protected from theft, or seen.
 
I wish I was there to help. I love doing church installs. You could smoke a church that size for 10-12Gs. People would swoon from how good it sounded.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top