New Dynacord amps power Electro-Voice EVA arrays at Monte Vista Presbyterian Church

• In Touch AV modernized sound system in an acoustically challenging space on a limited budget
• Electro-Voice EVA Expandable Vertical Arrays with hidden rigging provide smooth coverage and full-range sound with a sophisticated look
• New Dynacord C3600FDi DSP amplifiers provide efficient power with FIR filtering for loudspeaker system optimization

Monte Vista Presbyterian Church of Newbury Park, CA, features a dramatic, contemporary architecture, with a 26-foot ceiling providing plenty of reverberation in its 300-capacity sanctuary. Realizing that their point-source system could not deliver the desired clarity for either spoken word or their eight-piece band, they decided it was time to update. Retail AV supplier Pro Sound & Stage Lighting (PSSL) recommended an area firm, In Touch AV, to design and install a new sound system and upgrade the lighting.

Upon inspecting the room, In Touch AV owner Moises Hurtado immediately saw an ideal application for a line array. “It’s a tricky space, with side walls that aren’t parallel and a unique arched ceiling. The church wanted the speakers up high, high enough to not interfere with their projection screen or take away from the large cross on the rear wall, and with a clean look. Of course, there were budget limitations as well. But looking at their old system, which was just two full-range boxes all the way up at the ceiling, I knew the right line-array system would be a huge upgrade for them.”

In Touch AV recommended the Electro-Voice EVA system. With its invisible hardware, highly efficient design and flexible range of available dispersion patterns, Hurtado was confident he could design a system to cover the full room without going so wide that they would bleed onto the side walls. “The key was to keep the room’s natural reverb under control,” he says. “It was just a matter of finding the right fit for the space.”

Using the supplied EVADA design software, In Touch AV found it could cover the entire sanctuary with two modest arrays, each consisting of three EVA-2082S/920 modules, each of which includes two line-array elements with 90-by-20-degree dispersion. The arrays are hung together, with each being angled outward to cover the two sides of the sanctuary. They are augmented by two EVA-2151F subwoofers, which are flown separately from the arrays.

“When you look at the system, it doesn’t look like a typical line-array deployment,” notes Hurtado. “But this is what the room required. We have clean, direct sound that hits both the front and back rows directly, with no fills required, and we have enough subwoofers to provide the rumble that a contemporary Christian band needs.”

The entire system is powered by just two Dynacord C3600 DSP amplifiers, with one powering the EVA arrays and the other dedicated to the subwoofers. In Touch AV used the amps’ onboard FIR filtering to optimize the performance of the EVA speakers, including a custom crossover.

“When we fired up the system for sound check, everything was locked in, which is what I expect from Electro-Voice,” says Hurtado. “Right from the start, we had great clarity with rich, full musical sound. The Monte Vista worship team just lit up with smiles. It was a night and day improvement for them, and now that room sounds as great as it looks.”